Hobbes and the Law of Nature
This is the first major work in English to explore at length the meaning, context, aims, and vital importance of Thomas Hobbes's concepts of the law of nature and the right of nature. Hobbes remains one of the most challenging and controversial of early modern philosophers, and debates persist about the interpretation of many of his ideas, particularly his views about natural law and natural right. In this book, Perez Zagorin argues that these two concepts are the twin foundations of the...
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"I read this book with genuine pleasure and profit. Hobbes and the Law of Nature is a work of great intellectual power by a scholar of enormous breadth and depth. Zagorin rescues Hobbes from misguided and hostile interpreters, and his book will certainly elicit some strong, even angry feelings. This will be all to the good."--Richard Flathman, professor emeritus, Johns Hopkins University"Hobbes and the Law of Nature is a significant contribution. Zagorin brings almost the entire Hobbesian corpus to bear, as well as a great deal of the scholarly literature on Hobbes of the past several decades. He also deploys his considerable knowledge of the seventeenth-century context of Hobbes's thinking. The result is that he helps us see Hobbes's thought much more clearly."--Michael P. Zuckert, University of Notre Dame
Preface ix Abbreviations xiChapter 1: S ome Basic Hobbesian Concepts 1 The Law of Nature 5 Hobbes's Critique of the Natural Law Tradition 11 Natural Rights 20Chapter 2: Enter the Law of Nature 30 Human Nature 32 The State of Nature or Man's Natural Condition 36 The Precepts of the Law of Nature 42 Natural Rights and the Creation of the Commonwealth 54 Consent, Fear, Obligation, and Populism 60Chapter 3: The Sovereign and the Law of Nature 66 The Theory of Sovereignty 66 The Liberty of Subjects 75 Hobbes's Very Moral Sovereign 84Chapter 4: Hobbes, the Moral Philosopher 99 Self and Others 99 Obligation 106 Is and Ought 112 Religion and Toleration 117Conclusion 127 Notes 129 Index 171
\ Political Studies ReviewZagorin's study is erudite, insightful and especially commendable for analyzing both the philosophical import and historical context of the ideas discussed.\ — Robin Douglass\ \ \ \ \ Political Science JournalZagorin's book is a helpful introduction into the basics of Hobbesian politics, the prominent secondary debates, and the broader historical context of natural law theory, which will inspire many of its readers with a positive awareness of the potentially moral dimensions in Hobbes' political writings.\ — Ester Bertrand\ \ \ HistorianZagorin's book . . . serves as a good introduction to Hobbes and the history of Hobbes scholarship as well as to the history of political philosophy more generally. It would be a suitable text for an upper-level undergraduate course on Hobbes as well as a graduate course.\ — Michael P. Krom\ \ \ \ \ Political Studies ReviewZagorin's study is erudite, insightful and especially commendable for analyzing both the philosophical import and historical context of the ideas discussed.\ \ \ \ \ Political Science JournalZagorin's book is a helpful introduction into the basics of Hobbesian politics, the prominent secondary debates, and the broader historical context of natural law theory, which will inspire many of its readers with a positive awareness of the potentially moral dimensions in Hobbes' political writings.\ \ \ \ \ HistorianZagorin's book . . . serves as a good introduction to Hobbes and the history of Hobbes scholarship as well as to the history of political philosophy more generally. It would be a suitable text for an upper-level undergraduate course on Hobbes as well as a graduate course.\ \
