Individual, power and relation in Thomas Hobbes

Journal title SOCIETÀ DEGLI INDIVIDUI (LA)
Author/s Francesco Toto
Publishing Year 2016 Issue 2016/55
Language Italian Pages 16 P. 143-158 File size 99 KB
DOI 10.3280/LAS2016-055011
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The purpose of this paper is to challenge the individualistic interpretation of Hobbesian subjectivity. Firstly, the paper focuses on: the formal definition of individual proposed by Hobbes; the biological implications of the concept of form used in this definition; the relationship between the form and the power to act and suffer. It thus shows the reasons for which the Hobbesian ontology can be understood as a relational ontology. Secondly, the article addresses the primacy of desire for power, the reasons for its conversion into a desire for recognition and its ability to promote forms of cooperation. This article highlights the relational constitution of Hobbes’ subjectivity and the impossibility of applying the category of individualism to his anthropology.

  • Animal life and mind in Hobbes’s philosophy of nature Emre Ebetürk, in History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 69/2018
    DOI: 10.1007/s40656-018-0234-x

Francesco Toto, Individuo, potere e relazione in Thomas Hobbes in "SOCIETÀ DEGLI INDIVIDUI (LA)" 55/2016, pp 143-158, DOI: 10.3280/LAS2016-055011