The inconvenience of the legislator’s two persons and the role of good counsellors

I focus on Hobbes’s distinction between the natural and political persons embodied in one sovereign and show that, driven by their passions, ignorance, or bad judgement, rulers qua natural men may undermine the end they ought to pursue qua political actors, namely the protection of the well-being of the people. In particular, as legislators, they may make laws that are unnecessary, or that the people cannot endure, or that give rise to their impatience and discontent. I argue that in Hobbes’s argument, the notion of good counsel provides a safety net against bad commands being issued by rulers. I claim that the process of consultation of good counsellors is an essential component of Hobbes’s understanding of law-making. I suggest that the Hobbesian notions of counsel and counsellor provide a valuable framework to illuminate aspects of contemporary global law-making.PostprintPeer reviewe

As thick as thieves : exploring Thomas Hobbes' critique of ancient friendship and its contemporary relevance

Recent decades have witnessed a revival of interest in ancient friendship both as a normative and as an explanatory concept. The literature concurs in holding Hobbes responsible for the marginalisation of friendship in political science and suggests that Hobbes devalued friendship because of his understanding of man. The paper argues that while Hobbes's account and appraisal of friendship hinge on his assumption that man is self-interested, his critique of normative friendship does not rest on that notion. Hobbes's challenge is that, deprived of its classical foundation in a 'truth' (the 'good life'), modern friendship, whether self-interested or selfless, cannot be assumed to be a civic virtue, nor an index of the health of a political association, nor a facilitator of domestic or global peace. Hobbes's critique is especially relevant for writers who maintain that a resurgence of friendship can nurture concord and foster reconciliation in contemporary liberal democracies.PostprintPeer reviewe

Thomas Hobbes: theorist of the law

This short article introduces the papers that follow on the topic of Hobbes as a theorist of the law. It provides an overview of Hobbes reputation as a theorist of law in both domestic and international theory. The paper summarizes the papers that follow and suggest how they fit into the wider literature on Hobbes, legal theory, and constitutional theory.PostprintPeer reviewe

The significance of glory in the political theory of Thomas Hobbes.

The dissertation is divided in three parts: Part I: It is suggested that Thucydides' History provides useful insights into Hobbes's political theory in so far as the link between glory, fear, and conflict postulated by Thucydides affords a deeper understanding of the role of glory and fear In Hobbes's political construct. In particular, it is suggested that the distinction between ultimate and proximate causes of the Peloponnesian War underlying Thucydides' argument is used by Hobbes in all three his political works in order to explain conflict in the state of nature. Part II: The meaning of 'Glory' in Elements of Law, De Give, and Leviathan is examined in detail and it is argued that, In spite of some changes in Hobbes's philosophy of man, the role assigned by Hobbes to glory in both pre-political and political associations is identical in all three works. The significance of Glory is emphasised and its role in Hobbes's theory is defined and explained in relation to other key elements of his political discourse, such as self-preservation, rationality, felicity, profit, power, etc. It is also stressed that Hobbes's definition of glory makes it compatible with a concern for self-preservation and thus differs from the current meaning of glory (that allows one to speak of 'glorious death'). Part III: Hobbes's political theory is axiomatised as a model resting on a small set of assumptions common to all three works. Contrary to current views, it is argued that glory, and not the concern for self-preservation, is the pivotal assumption of Hobbes's theory and that indeed the assumption of an over-riding concern for self-preservation is logically redundant to derive the state of war and the conditions for peace as described by Hobbes. Finally it it suggested that Hobbes's model can be interpreted as implying the incompatibility within a state-of-nature approach of glory-seeking behaviour and a rich set of political rights and thus can be used to expose a problem of consistency in some liberal theories of the State

Thomas Hobbes

The aim of this collection is twofold: on the one hand, it brings together the most significant and influential articles on Hobbes that have been published in the twentieth century; on the other hand, it aims at capturing the trend of fragmentation of Hobbes studies offering a taste of early epic interpretations that engaged with the whole of Hobbes's theory, and a taste of later works interested in capturing more limited narratives and at recounting parallel stories that seem to be running through Hobbes's works. The introduction offers a compass to orient the reader's journey through the collection.</p

The inconvenience of the legislator’s two persons and the role of good counsellors

I focus on Hobbes’s distinction between the natural and political persons embodied in one sovereign and show that, driven by their passions, ignorance, or bad judgement, rulers qua natural men may undermine the end they ought to pursue qua political actors, namely the protection of the well-being of the people. In particular, as legislators, they may make laws that are unnecessary, or that the people cannot endure, or that give rise to their impatience and discontent. I argue that in Hobbes’s argument, the notion of good counsel provides a safety net against bad commands being issued by rulers. I claim that the process of consultation of good counsellors is an essential component of Hobbes’s understanding of law-making. I suggest that the Hobbesian notions of counsel and counsellor provide a valuable framework to illuminate aspects of contemporary global law-making