Hobbes's Modern Prometheus
A Political Philosophy for an Uncertain Future
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6239909 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Loralea Michaelis (0000-0002-9111-1798, Mount Allison University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 101-127 |
| Publication date | 2007-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Canadian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-4239 • E-ISSN: 1744-9324 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0008423907070023 |
| OpenAlex | W1978745839 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 17 |
This paper takes the Prometheus story in chapter 12 of Leviathan as the point of entry for an examination of the importance that Hobbes assigns to the problem of an uncertain future in his political philosophy. Hobbes's thinking on human nature represents a dramatic departure from the ancients not only because his mechanistic psychology reverses the ancient conception of the relation between reason and passion but also because his understanding of the temporal situation of human beings privileges the future to an unprecedented degree. It is against the backdrop of a universe in which the problem of an uncertain future has reached intolerable proportions that Hobbes develops his portrait of human nature; it is against the backdrop of this universe that he develops his account of Leviathan as the only earthly power capable of stabilizing the horizon of expectation.Résumé.Cet article utilise l'histoire de Prométhée au chapitre 12 du Léviathan comme introduction à l'examen de l'importance qu'accorde Hobbes au problème de l'incertitude de l'avenir dans sa philosophie politique. La pensée de Hobbes sur la nature humaine constitue une dérogation spectaculaire par rapport aux Anciens non seulement parce que sa psychologie mécaniste s'oppose diamétralement à l'ancienne conception de la relation entre raison et passion, mais également parce que sa compréhension de la situation temporelle des êtres humains privilégie l'avenir et ce, à un degré sans précédent. C'est sur la toile de fond d'un univers dans lequel le problème de l'incertitude de l'avenir a atteint des proportions intolérables que Hobbes construit son portrait de la nature humaine comme un tourbillon de passions incontrôlées; c'est sur la toile de fond de cet univers qu'il élabore son récit du Léviathan, seule force terrestre capable de stabiliser les attentes de l'avenir
Epistemology · Ethnology · Humanities · LEVIATHAN (cipher · Passion · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Relation (database · Sociology · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Political Theology and Sovereignty · Psychology · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought · Social Psychology
In the eyes of all mankind
Integrating anxiety into international relations theory
Normalized Exceptions and Totalized Potentials
Education “in the age of uncertainty”
The paradox of possibility
Contesting the Future
The Erotic Political Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes
Precariousness, the Secured Present and the Sustainability of the Future
Hobbesian Moral and Political Theory
Futures Past
The Practice of Conceptual History
The use and abuse of the past
Discourses on Livy
The Politics of Progress
Hobbes's Science of Politics
C.B. Macpherson's“Hobbes”
II. Hobbes, Puritans, and Promethean Politics
Hobbes, Mechanism, and Egoism
Political Philosophy and Time
Hobbes and Psychological Egoism
The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,44 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2026 (19) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |