Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan Seminar Questions
As you read Leviathan, I want you to think about the importance of authority – what is authority and are there different types of authority? Write down how you understand Hobbes’ account of moral and political obligation as you progress through Leviathan.
What is “Leviathan”? How does Hobbes classify the State – is
it a product of Nature or something else? What does Hobbes say is the role of a
political leader in relation to the individual?
Why does Hobbes begin Leviathan by discussing human
nature/senses/ the mind?
When discussing
“Leviathan” what does Hobbes mean when he uses the adjective “artificial”?
What role does sensory
experience play in acquiring knowledge?
Why do humans wish to
increase their power in a state of nature?
What are the primary
causes of quarrel?
What does Hobbes have to
say about war?
How does Hobbes discuss “justice” and “injustice?” Is there justice in a state of nature? Why is there violence under a monarchy? What is the purpose of absolute sovereignty? What is sovereignty?
How does Hobbes
differentiate between the Right of Nature and the Law of Nature?
What is the role of the
Fool to Hobbes’ political philosophy? Is Hobbes’ reply to the Fool convincing?
Some Suggested Secondary Reading:
The Cambridge Companion to Hobbes has some good essays and bibliographies. It is available at the U of W library.
Burgess, G. ‘Contexts for
the Writing and Publication of Hobbes’s Leviathan’, History of Political Thought 11 (1990), pp. 675-702.
Condren, C. ‘On the rhetorical foundations of Leviathan’ History of Political Thought 11 (1990), pp. 703-20.
Dzelzainis, Martin. "Edward Hyde and Thomas Hobbes's Elements of Law, Natural and Politic." The Historical Journal, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Jun., 1989), pp. 303-317.
Dietz, Mary G.ed., Thomas Hobbes and Political Theory
(Lawrence, Kansas, 1990).
Hampton, J., (1986),
Hobbes and the Social Contract Tradition, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Hindess, Barry Discourses
of Power: From Hobbes to Foucault, Blackwell 1996.
Johnston, D., The
Rhetoric of Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes and the Politics of Cultural
Transformation
(Princeton, 1986).
MacPherson, C B The
Political Theory of Possessive Individualism: Hobbes to Locke,
Clarendon 1962.
M.M. Goldsmith, ‘Hobbes’s
ambiguous politics’, History of Political Thought 11 (1990), pp. 639- 674.
Martinich, A.P. (1992). The Two Gods of Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes on
Religion and Politics, Cambridge.
----- (1999). Hobbes: A Biography, Cambridge.
Oakeshott, Michael
(1975). Hobbes on Civil Association,
Oxford.
----, (1991) Rationalism in Politics, Liberty Press
Reinhart Koselleck, Critique and Crisis: Enlightenment and the
Pathogenesis of Modern Society, Berg.
Pierre Manent, An Intellectual History of Liberalism,
ch.3
Sorell, Tom (1986). Hobbes, London.
Strauss, Leo (1936). The Political Philosophy of Hobbes: its Basis and
Genesis, Oxford.
Sommerville, J. Thomas
Hobbes: Political Ideas in Historical Context (Basingstoke, 1992).
Strauss, Leo The
Political Philosophy of Hobbes, University of Chicago Press 1996.
Tuck, Richard (1989). Hobbes, Oxford.
Warrender, Howard
(1957). The Political Philosophy of
Hobbes: his Theory of Obligation, Oxford.
Quentin Skinner, ‘The Ideological
Context of Hobbes’/ Political Thought’, Historical
Journal 9, 1966
No comments:
Post a Comment