Affiliation:
1. Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota Theology & Philosophy Winona Minnesota 559 USA
Abstract
Abstract
According to a common reading of Thomas Hobbes, fear is the most philosophically important passion, responsible for the founding and sustaining of the commonwealth. I argue that this common reading is incorrect by focusing on the necessary and important role of hope in human action as well as in the founding and sustaining of the commonwealth. Life in the Hobbesian commonwealth, on the reading defended in this paper, is less fearful and more hopeful than scholars have noticed.
Reference75 articles.
1. Abizadeh, A. 2017. “Hobbes on Mind: Practical Deliberation, Reasoning, and Language.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 55(1), 1–34.
2. Alexandra, A. 1989. “All Men Agree on this – Hobbes on the Fear of Death and the Way to Peace.” History of Philosophy Quarterly 6(1), 37–55.
3. Allanen, L. 2014. “Emotions in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century.” In Sourcebook for the History of the Philosophy of Mind: Philosophical Psychology from Plato to Kant. Ed. by S. Knuuttila/J. Sihvola. New York, 499–533.
4. Ahrensdorf, P. 2000. “The Fear of Death and the Longing for Immortality: Hobbes and Thucydides on Human Nature and the Problem of Anarchy.” American Political Science Review 94(03), 579–93.
5. Airaksinen, T. 1993. “Hobbes on the Passions and Powerlessness.” Hobbes Studies 6(1), 80–104.