attraction

Being

body

commodious living

communication

conquest

conscience

curiosity

de-facto sovereignty

de-jure sovereignty

democracy

desire

dying

emulation

enemy

evolution

experience

fact

freedom of the press

government

hell

hope

human nature

justice

language

laughter

leisure

liberty

life

London

love

materialism

metaphor

nature

obligation

papacy

philosophy

physics

political science

power

prophecy

rationality

reason

repulsion

science

security

social contract

social contract theory

sovereign

sovereignty

species

state

state of nature

Theseus' ship

understanding

value

nationality

British

occupation / innovator as

philosopher

enlightenment thinker

political philosopher

innovator in the field of

political philosophy

mathematician

political scientist

economist

politician

historian

religion

atheism

translator

Leviathan

is the physical universe and all physical things that 'are'. Whatever does not have body is not part of the universe is nothing and nowhere.

The world, (I mean . . . the Universe, that is, the whole masse of all things that are) is corporeall, that is to say, Body... and hath the dimension of magnitude, namely, Length, Breath and Depth: also every part of Body, is likewise Body . . . and consequently every part of the Universe is Body, and that which is not Body, is no part of the Universe: and because the Universe is all, that which is no part of it is nothing... and consequently no where.

is a mute but immoveable barricade against the appropriating sway of ideational claims invariably circulating in the public realm.

For Hobbes, the body is a mute but immoveable barricade against the appropriating sway of ideational claims invariably circulating in the public realm.

is living a life in which man or woman strives to achieve their dreams without imposing themselves on others by use of fear.

living a life in which man or woman strives to achieve their dreams without imposing themselves on others by use of fear.' (net)

is the conventional domains of morality, politics, society, and everything that comes along with it.

According to this argument, morality, politics, society, and everything that comes along with it, all of which Hobbes calls 'commodious living' are purely conventional. (internet encyclopedia : social contract)

is nothing more than a series of arbitrary symbols, a process of moving around markers on paper or sounds in the air.

Given his philosophy of being, it comes as no surprise to hear Hobbes talk about the way language is nothing more than the moving around and matching up of different quantities. He treats the process of human communication as if it were nothing more than a series of arbitrary symbols. Conversation becomes a process of moving around markers on paper or sounds in the air. Communication is reduced to the matieral and quantitative aspects of language. Anything of an immaterial nature is eliminated. This is done because, although often using the word God, Hobbes is a self-confessed, thouroughgoing materialist.

is a metaphor, a deceiving and unreliable form of discourse.

For Hobbes, metaphor is a name for discourse which is false: it is one of the 'abuses of speech' when people 'use words metaphorically... that is, in other sense than that they are ordained for... and thereby deceive others' (1.4). By calling conscience a metaphor, he categorizes it as a deceiving and unreliable form of discourse. It is, moreover, removed from its divine authority, and made into a human condition.

is a desire (to know why and how) that exist in no living creatures other than man.

Hobbes defines curiosity as the desire to know why and how. There is nothing remarkable about this simple definition. What is interesting is that Hobbes adds the comment that curiosity exist in no living creatures other than man, so that curiosity as well as reason are what distinguish man from other animals. (Hobbes: Morals and Politics By D D Raphael, D. D. Raphael)

is when one who has no legal claim to sovereignty possesses it by the exercise of force (in contrast to de-jure sovereignty whereby one who has a legal claim to sovereignty does not possess it.).

de-jure sovereign is one who has a legal claim to sovereignty but does not possess it in fact while de-facto sovereign is one who has no legal claim to sovereignty but possesses it in fact and exercises necessary force to make and enforce its laws.' (net)

is when one who has a legal claim to sovereignty does not possess it (in contrast to de-facto sovereignty which is when one who has no legal claim to sovereignty does possess it (by the exercise of force).

is inferior to monarchy because in democracy no one is apt to have a sense of responsibility because no one person makes a significant difference to the outcomes of decision making. Thus, democracy fosters destabilizing dissention among subjects.

Hobbes (1651, chap. XIX) argues that democracy is inferior to monarchy because democracy fosters destabilizing dissension among subjects. But his skepticism is not based in a conception that most people are not intellectually fit for politics. On his view, individual citizens and even politicians are apt not to have a sense of responsibility for the quality of legislation because no one makes a significant difference to the outcomes of decision making. As a consequence, citizens' concerns are not focused on politics and politicians succeed only by making loud and manipulative appeals to citizens in order to gain more power, but all lack incentives to consider views that are genuinely for the common good. Hence the sense of lack of responsibility for outcomes undermines politicians' concern for the common good and inclines them to make sectarian and divisive appeals to citizens. For Hobbes, then, democracy has deleterious effects on subjects and politicians and consequently on the quality of the outcomes of collective decision making.

is not conquered when he is imprisoned. He is merely overcome, for he is still an enemy.

He that is taken and put into prison or chains is not conquered, though overcome... for he is still an enemy.

is that toward which all generous minds have a horror. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain.

All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain.

Government is to protect us from ourselves.

is essentially anti-social in nature. People are animalistic and selfish and needed to be controlled by government.

animalistic and selfish and needed to be controlled by government.

is procedurally defined as any act whatsoever of the sovereign. Since the sovereign is not party to the contract, he cannot, by definition, ..

For Hobbes justice is procedurally defined as any act whatsoever of the sovereign. Since the sovereign is not party to the contract, he cannot, by definition,

is nothing more than the moving around and matching up of different quantities and the process of human communication as if it were nothing more than a series of arbitrary symbols. Conversation becomes a process of moving around markers on paper or sounds in the air.

is primary vis-a-vis reason. One cannot think without language and, as such, words are not only signs of ideas, they are ideas.

For Hobbes words are not only signs of ideas, they are ideas. Whereas for Locke reason comes first and is then represented by words, for Hobbes language comes first: one cannot think without language (cf. Leahey caused by speech' .

is shaped by our passions and opinions, and so reflects our subjective desires rather than any objective standard of value. Language is thus not a dependable sign but rather a vehicle of misrepresentation.

Hobbes tells us that language is shaped by our passions and opinions, and so reflects our subjective desires rather than any objective standard of value. But he notes that although language always bears a necessary relation to our desire, our desire may be to deceive. In this case, language is not a dependable sign but rather a vehicle of misrepresentation:'

It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law.

Thomas Hobbes

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