The Problem of Sovereignty
Reading Hobbes through the Eyes of Hannah Arendt
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20394373 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Edgar Straehle (0000-0001-5200-9371, muhba / ub (adhuc) [email protected], corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 71-91 |
| Publication date | 2019-03-19 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Hobbes Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0921-5891 • E-ISSN: 1875-0257 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/18750257-03201001 |
| OpenAlex | W2923533633 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
In this paper I examine how Hobbes’ philosophy can be read from an Arendtian perspective. I argue that Arendt provided two different interpretations of Hobbes: one set down in The Origins of Totalitarianism , where Hobbes is depicted as the spokesman of the emerging bourgeoisie; and another that she developed later, scattered among various texts such as The Human Condition and Between Past and Future . I focus on this second interpretation and on her analysis of concepts such as common sense, authority and sovereignty. Firstly, I examine how she changes the meaning of common sense, and how this shift is linked to what Arendt understands by the expression “estrangement from the world.” Secondly, I explain how Hobbes redefined the concept of authority and how his notion of sovereignty deliberately conflated the dual concepts of authority and power
Bourgeoisie · Conflation · Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sovereignty · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Political Theology and Sovereignty · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |