| Title | : | Thomas Hobbes and the Natural Law Tradition |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0226062481 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780226062488 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 246 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1989 |
Tracing Hobbes's work through De Cive and Leviathan, Bobbio identifies the philosopher's relation to the tradition of natural law. That Hobbes must now be understood in both this tradition as well as in the seemingly contradictory positivist tradition becomes clear for the first time in Bobbio's account. Bobbio also demonstrates that Hobbes cannot be easily labelled "liberal" or "totalitarian"; in Bobbio's provocative analysis of Hobbes's justification of the state, Hobbes emerges as a true conservative.
Though his primary concern is to reconstruct the inner logic of Hobbes's thought, Bobbio is also attentive to the philosopher's biography and weaves into his analysis details of Hobbes's life and world—his exile in France, his relation with the Mersenne circle, his disputes with Anglican bishops, and accusations of heresy leveled against him. The result is a revealing, thoroughly new portrait of the first theorist of the modern state.
Thomas Hobbes and the Natural Law Tradition Reviews
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Italian scholars are notorious for their rhetorical flourish and emphasis on style rather than succinct clarity. Bobbio is an exception whose tight, cogent prose brings an analytic rigor to his exegesis of Hobbes' political thought that draws out the various nuances in the Hobbesian system.
Of particular note of this book is the final chapter where Bobbio draws upon Gierke to formulate Hobbes' philosophical theory of the corporation which provides a level of depth to the "partial societies" which populate the political landscape beneath the umbrella of the authoritative state. -
Sono disarmato dalla profondità analitica del Bobbio: un'acribia nella spigolatura e un'interpretazione chirurgica di molti passaggi controversi dell'opera hobbesiana difficilmente rintracciabili tra la letteratura inerente. Oltre ad avere avuto il merito di aver riportato in auge la filosofia del maestro di Malmesbury, sicuramente tocca riconoscere a Bobbio una capacità e un ragionamento filosofico fuori dall'ordinario, capace di dissezionare la carne viva della dottrina del filosofo inglese e di mostrarne, oltre che le contraddizioni, le brillanti vaticinanti previsioni e fortunatissime intuizioni. Senza azzardare, credo che si possa affermare che è grazie anche a Bobbio che, in Italia e in Europa, si riconosce finalmente a Hobbes il ruolo che merita tra i legittimi padri del concetto di stato moderno.
