The limits of reason in Hobbes' commonwealth
By: Michael P. Krom
Publisher: Continuum
Published: 2011
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 216
ISBN-13: 9781441182616
Subjects: Reason; Political aspects; The State
Description: The Limits of Reason in Hobbes's Commonwealth explores Hobbes's attempt to construct a political philosophy of enduring peace on the foundation of the rational individual. Hobbes's rational individual, motivated by self-preservation, obeys the laws of the commonwealth and thus is conceived as the model citizen. Yet Hobbes intimates that there are limits to what such an actor will do for peace, and that the glory-seeker - "too rarely found to be presumed on"--Is capable of a generosity that is necessary for political longevity. Michael P. Krom identifies this as a fundamental contradiction in Hobbes's system: he builds the commonwealth on the rational actor, yet acknowledges the need for the irrational glory-seeker. Krom argues that Hobbes's attempt to establish a "king of the proud" fails to overcome the limits of reason and the precariousness of politics. This book synthesizes recent work on Hobbes's understanding of glory and political stability, challenging the view that Hobbes succeeds in incorporating glory-seekers into his political theory and explores the implications of this for contemporary political philosophy after Rawls.-- Book Cover.
Table of contents: title: From sense to reason: a genetic account; title: Reasoning to the body politic; title: Reasoning in the body politic; title: Dominated by the passions: irrationality and the prideful individual; title: The moralization of pride; title: Taming curiosity: the commonwealth's philosopher; title: The desire for divinity: spiritual pride in the commonwealth.