Philosophy
Political philosophy is tough business. One of its aims, for instance, is to understand how to balance the interests and rights of individual citizens with those of the state of which they are a part. Another has to do with figuring out the basis for the legitimacy of the state, as well as its limits. Even if we just stopped there, I'm sure you can see how difficult such endeavors must be.
Interestingly, much of our modern way of looking at questions of rights, obligations, authority and the legitimacy of the state can be traced back to Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan, undoubtedly one of the greatest works on political philosophy ever written.
Part of the reason this is interesting is that Hobbes starts from a basic set of facts about human equality and competition for limited resources with which almost no one would disagree, and then draws inferences that inform a political system that, however totalitarian and outrageous you might find it to be, somehow manages to solve a great number of conceptual problems that have eluded most other ethical and political theories. And even when you think something is wrong with his point of view, it's almost impossible not to find it interesting anyway :)
Here's a quick introduction to Hobbes' Leviathan from Nigel Warburton's book Philosophy: The Classics:
And here's a Philosophy Bites episode in which Nigel Warburton discusses the importance and influence of Hobbes' philosophy with Quentin Skinner:
For a deeper analysis of Hobbes' Social Contract theory, listen to this fascinating discussion (iTunes only, sorry) with Quentin Skinner.
And this is the original cover of the Leviathan, representing "that mortal God, to which we owe... our peace and defence":
There is a youtube video of an introduction to Hobbes, from Yale University, which I have not had a chance to check out yet. If it's worth its salt, I'll be posting it soon.
- Does The Social Contract Have A Dotted Line?
Today is the 706th anniversary of the death of William Wallace, a Scottish knight who led the revolt against Edward I who claimed rule over Scotland. When tried for treason, his defense was that he could not be guilty of treason against a government to...
- Early Modern Philosophers
.Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) ?Whoever desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with assuming that all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature, whenever they may find occasion for it,?[1] states Machiavelli, the Italian...
- Quentin Skinner On Machiavelli
When you think of the great philosophers from antiquity, especially those who were interested in social and political questions, we have a long tradition of understanding political governance within a strict ethical framework. That line of thinking suffered...
- The Prisoner's Dilemma
One of the interesting aspects of social interactions is that our interests are not always aligned with those of other agents, and when the result of an interaction is a function of your choice and that of someone else whose motives may be different from...
- Lecture 2 - Introduction To Modern Philosophy
After a brief introduction to ancient philosophy and the intellectual revolution started by Galileo and Descartes in the 17th century, Professor Millican begins to provide a concise and fascinating summary of the intellectual developments and questions...
Philosophy
Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan
Political philosophy is tough business. One of its aims, for instance, is to understand how to balance the interests and rights of individual citizens with those of the state of which they are a part. Another has to do with figuring out the basis for the legitimacy of the state, as well as its limits. Even if we just stopped there, I'm sure you can see how difficult such endeavors must be.Interestingly, much of our modern way of looking at questions of rights, obligations, authority and the legitimacy of the state can be traced back to Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan, undoubtedly one of the greatest works on political philosophy ever written.
Part of the reason this is interesting is that Hobbes starts from a basic set of facts about human equality and competition for limited resources with which almost no one would disagree, and then draws inferences that inform a political system that, however totalitarian and outrageous you might find it to be, somehow manages to solve a great number of conceptual problems that have eluded most other ethical and political theories. And even when you think something is wrong with his point of view, it's almost impossible not to find it interesting anyway :)
Here's a quick introduction to Hobbes' Leviathan from Nigel Warburton's book Philosophy: The Classics:
And here's a Philosophy Bites episode in which Nigel Warburton discusses the importance and influence of Hobbes' philosophy with Quentin Skinner:
For a deeper analysis of Hobbes' Social Contract theory, listen to this fascinating discussion (iTunes only, sorry) with Quentin Skinner.
And this is the original cover of the Leviathan, representing "that mortal God, to which we owe... our peace and defence":
There is a youtube video of an introduction to Hobbes, from Yale University, which I have not had a chance to check out yet. If it's worth its salt, I'll be posting it soon.
- Does The Social Contract Have A Dotted Line?
Today is the 706th anniversary of the death of William Wallace, a Scottish knight who led the revolt against Edward I who claimed rule over Scotland. When tried for treason, his defense was that he could not be guilty of treason against a government to...
- Early Modern Philosophers
.Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) ?Whoever desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with assuming that all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature, whenever they may find occasion for it,?[1] states Machiavelli, the Italian...
- Quentin Skinner On Machiavelli
When you think of the great philosophers from antiquity, especially those who were interested in social and political questions, we have a long tradition of understanding political governance within a strict ethical framework. That line of thinking suffered...
- The Prisoner's Dilemma
One of the interesting aspects of social interactions is that our interests are not always aligned with those of other agents, and when the result of an interaction is a function of your choice and that of someone else whose motives may be different from...
- Lecture 2 - Introduction To Modern Philosophy
After a brief introduction to ancient philosophy and the intellectual revolution started by Galileo and Descartes in the 17th century, Professor Millican begins to provide a concise and fascinating summary of the intellectual developments and questions...