The moral foundation of Hobbes' civil philosophy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5007/1677-2954.2021.e77715Abstract
The aim is to discuss the argument that Hobbesian civil philosophy submits to a moral foundation without binding itself to the principles of physics or first philosophy. To demonstrate this assumption, we use the reconstruction of Strauss' argument by which he exposes the moral antithesis between vanity and fear as a determinant to attribute a moral foundation to civil philosophy, without a link with the determinations of natural philosophy. Thus, it is postulated that the moral principle regulating the actions that make the preservation of life possible consists in the just fear of violent death. Thus, it becomes possible to highlight the fundamental moral fact on which Hobbes' philosophy is based, that is, natural law and not duty, collaborating in the emphasis of a new foundation of morality.
References
ADAMS, M. P. Natural philosophy, geometry, and deduction in the Hobbes-Boyle debate. Hobbes Studies, v. 30, n. 1, p. 83-107, 2017.
BALDIN, G. Hobbes e Galileo: metodo, materia e scienza del moto. Firenze: Leo S. Olschki Editore, 2017.
BATES, S. The motivation to be just. Ethics, v. 85, n. 1, p. 1-17, 1974.
BERNS, W. Judicial review and the rights and laws of nature. The Supreme CourtReview, v. 1982, p. 49-83, 1982.
BLITS, J. H. Hobbesian fear. Political Theory, v. 17, n. 3, p. 417-431, 1989.
BRANDT, F. Thomas Hobbes’ mechanical conception of nature. London: Hachette, 1928.
FRATESCHI, Y. A física da política: Hobbes contra Aristóteles. Campinas: Editora da Unicamp, 2008.
GREENLEAF, W. H. Hobbes: o problema da interpretação. In. QUIRINO, C. G.; SOUZA, M. T. S. (org.). O pensamento político clássico. São Paulo: T. A. Queiroz, 1980.
HOBBES, T. De corpore. In. The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmensbury. Now first collected and edited by Sir Willian Molesworth. London (1839-1845). Reprint Aelen: Scientia, 1966.
HOBBES, T. Leviathan, or the matter, forme and power of a Commonwealth ecclesiasticall and civil. Ed. C. B. Macpherson. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1968.
HOBBES, T. Do cidadão. Elementos filosóficos a respeito do cidadão. Tradução de Renato Janine Ribeiro. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2002a.
HOBBES, T. Elementos da lei natural e política. Tradução de Fernando Dias Andrade. São Paulo: Ícone, 2002b.
KAVKA, G. S. Hobbes’s war of all against all. Ethics, v. 93, n. 2, p. 291-310, 1983.
KIDDER, J. Hobbes’s “just man”. Reason Papers, n. 8, p. 1-15, Summer 1982.
LEIVAS, C. A paixão política do medo na concepção de Hobbes. Dissertatio, v. 33, p. 341-353, Inverno 2011.
PACCHI, A. Hobbes and the passions. Topoi, v. 6, n. 2, p. 111-9, 1987.
POGREBINSCHI, T. O problema da obediência em Thomas Hobbes. Bauru: EDUSC, 2003.
SKINNER, Q. Razão e retórica na filosofia de Hobbes. São Paulo: UNESP, 1999.
SORELL, T. Hobbes’s scheme of the sciences. In: SORELL, Tom (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Hobbes. Cambridge: University Press, 1996. p. 45-61.
SPRAGENS, T. A. The politics of motion: the world of Thomas Hobbes. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1973.
STAUFFER, D. Strauss’s discussion of Hobbes in “What is political philosophy?”. Perspectives on Political Science, v. 39, n. 2, p. 87-91, 2010.
STRAUSS, L. A filosofia política de Hobbes: suas bases e sua gênese. São Paulo: É realizações, 2016.
STRAUSS, L. Direito Natural e História. Tradução de Miguel Morgado. Lisboa, Portugal, Edições 70, 2009.
TOTO, F. Individuo, potere e relazione in Thomas Hobbes. La Società Degli Individui, v. 19, n. 55, p. 143-158, 2016.
GREENLEAF, W. H. Hobbes: o problema da interpretação. In: QUIRINO, C. G.; SOUZA, M. T. S. (org.). O pensamento político clássico. São Paulo: T. A. Queiroz, 1980.
HOBBES, T. De corpore. In: The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmensbury. Now first collected and edited by Sir Willian Molesworth. London (1839-1845). Reprint Aelen: Scientia, 1966.
HOBBES, T. Leviathan, or the matter, forme and power of a Commonwealth ecclesiasticall and civil. Ed. C. B. Macpherson. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1968.
HOBBES, T. Do cidadão. Elementos filosóficos a respeito do cidadão. Tradução de Renato Janine Ribeiro. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2002a.
HOBBES, T. Elementos da lei natural e política. Tradução de Fernando Dias Andrade. São Paulo: Ícone, 2002b.
KAVKA, G. S. Hobbes’s war of all against all. Ethics, v. 93, n. 2, p. 291-310, 1983.
KIDDER, J. Hobbes’s “just man”. Reason Papers, n. 8, p. 1-15, Summer 1982.
LEIVAS, C. A paixão política do medo na concepção de Hobbes. Dissertatio, v. 33, p. 341-353, Inverno 2011.
PACCHI, A. Hobbes and the passions. Topoi, v. 6, n. 2, p. 111-9, 1987.
POGREBINSCHI, T. O problema da obediência em Thomas Hobbes. Bauru: EDUSC, 2003.
SKINNER, Q. Razão e retórica na filosofia de Hobbes. São Paulo: UNESP, 1999.
SORELL, T. Hobbes’s scheme of the sciences. In: SORELL, Tom (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Hobbes. Cambridge: University Press, 1996. p. 45-61.
SPRAGENS, T. A. The politics of motion: the world of Thomas Hobbes. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1973.
STAUFFER, D. Strauss’s discussion of Hobbes in “What is political philosophy?”. Perspectives on Political Science, v. 39, n. 2, p. 87-91, 2010.
STRAUSS, L. A filosofia política de Hobbes: suas bases e sua gênese. São Paulo: É realizações, 2016.
TOTO, F. Individuo, potere e relazione in Thomas Hobbes. La Società Degli Individui, v. 19, n. 55, p. 143-158, 2016.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright and publication rights over their works, without restrictions.
Upon submitting their work, authors grant ethic@ the exclusive right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International License. This license allows third parties to remix, adapt, and build upon the published work, provided that proper credit is given to the authorship and to the original publication in this journal.
Authors are also permitted to enter into additional contracts, separately, for the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work in this journal (for example: deposit in an institutional repository, make it available on a personal website, publish translations, or include it as a book chapter), provided that authorship and the initial publication in ethic@ are acknowledged.
