Hobbes+bibliography

This article shows how Hobbes' use of the concept of the "state of nature" overturned the common presuppositions of political philosophy at the time //Leviathan// was published. It suggests that Hobbes managed to redefine what "natural" meant by drawing, among other things, on reports of native life in the Americas. Very clearly written. This book is a very careful reconstruction of Hobbes's argument using the tools of modern game theory. Hampton argues that Hobbes's argument, though powerful, is ultimately flawed - either inconsistent with his psychology or consistent with his psychology but unable to establish the necessity of an absolute sovereign. An excerpt from the book is reprinted in //[|The Social Contract Theorists: Critical Essays on Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau].// Gauthier criticizes Hampton, arguing that she does not take seriously enough the idea of a social contract, and hence too quickly dismisses Hobbes's argument. Hampton replies [|here].
 * Lewis, Thomas J. 2003. Recognizing rights: Hobbes on the authority of mothers and conquerors. //Canadian Journal of Political Science// 36 (1):39-60. [|Link].
 * Abstract**. This article follows Hobbes’s distinction between man as the artificer of a commonwealth and man as the material of the commonwealth, by exploring the meaning of natural right and consent from the perspective of an artificer or potential sovereign. From this perspective, natural rights are transformed from alleged attributes of humans into decisions by a victor in war to treat the defeated as if they had natural rights. Similarly, consent is transformed from actions of subjects or citizens into a decision by a victor to recognize the defeated as if they had a right to consent and to treat them as if they had consented. Moreover, Hobbes’s concept of a commonwealth by institution is understood as a definitional standard for the creation of commonwealths by force or acquisition, rather than as a possible historical event. Hobbes sought to explain and substantiate this view of natural right and consent by comparing the emergence of political authority from victory in war to the emergence of authority of a mother over her infant in a state of nature. According to Hobbes, just as maternal authority rests on a mother’s recognition of the right of her infant to consent, political authority rests on the victor’s recognition of the right of the defeated to consent. The practical policy thrust of Hobbes’s thought emerges from his comparison of the authority of mothers and conquerors.
 * Comments**: A useful discussion of the notion of "consent" in Hobbes. Suggests that consent must be understood as an attitude the ruler takes towards the subjects, not so much as a specific action that the subjects take authorizing the ruler.
 * Ashcraft, Richard (1971). Hobbes's Natural Man: A Study in Ideology Formation. //Journal of Politics// 33 (4): pp. 1076-1117. [|Link].
 * Hampton, Jean (1986). //[|Hobbes and the Social Contract Tradition]// (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
 * Gauthier, David (1999). Hobbes's Social Contract. Originally appeared in //Nous// 22 (1988), pp. 71-82. Reprinted in //[|The Social Contract Theorists: Critical Essays on Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau]// (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999), pp. 59-71. [|Link].
 * Gauthier, David (1969). __The Logic of Leviathan: The Moral and Political Theory of Thomas Hobbes__ (Oxford: Oxford University Press).[|Link] [|Library Catalog].
 * Cranston, Maurice William. 1972. Hobbes and Rousseau: A Collection of Critical Essays. 1st ed. Garden City, N.Y: Anchor Books. [|Library catalog].