{"title":"Hobbes Against the Fool","authors":"Asaf Sokolowski","doi":"10.20901/pm.59.2.04","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes voices concern over the squandering of the prospects of human prosperity. This paper argues that the remedy he proposes is the political replication of scripture’s idea of creation; the acknowledgment of an originator, a first cause of indisputable order. Hobbes’s nemesis, the Fool, is an agent of scripture’s antithetical tohu and bohu (the disarray that preceded creation), who misguidedly believes he can work disarray to his advantage. For Hobbes this is folly, because the volatility of disarray is beyond human mastery. Nevertheless, steadfastness and prosperity remain at hand, by replicating the order of a ‘higher power’ that is fortunately echoed in all creation. This paper is made in the image of Hobbes’s ‘replication methodology’, that in turn is modelled after scripture’s original depiction of the act of creation “in his own image” (Genesis 1:27). The paper identifies the biblical Nabal as the ‘original Fool’, and reflects on how the original resonates in Hobbes’s iteration.","PeriodicalId":43401,"journal":{"name":"Politicka Misao-Croatian Political Science Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Politicka Misao-Croatian Political Science Review","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.20901/pm.59.2.04","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"POLITICAL SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes voices concern over the squandering of the prospects of human prosperity. This paper argues that the remedy he proposes is the political replication of scripture’s idea of creation; the acknowledgment of an originator, a first cause of indisputable order. Hobbes’s nemesis, the Fool, is an agent of scripture’s antithetical tohu and bohu (the disarray that preceded creation), who misguidedly believes he can work disarray to his advantage. For Hobbes this is folly, because the volatility of disarray is beyond human mastery. Nevertheless, steadfastness and prosperity remain at hand, by replicating the order of a ‘higher power’ that is fortunately echoed in all creation. This paper is made in the image of Hobbes’s ‘replication methodology’, that in turn is modelled after scripture’s original depiction of the act of creation “in his own image” (Genesis 1:27). The paper identifies the biblical Nabal as the ‘original Fool’, and reflects on how the original resonates in Hobbes’s iteration.
期刊介绍:
“Politička misao” je akademski časopis za politologiju i srodne discipline, koji od 1964. godine izdaje Fakultet političkih znanosti Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. Časopis je u pola stoljeća izlaženja stekao reputaciju središnjeg akademskog politološkog časopisa u Hrvatskoj i šire, naročito u nekadašnjoj Jugoslaviji, te u regiji koju čine post-jugoslavenske zemlje. “Politička misao” objavljuje priloge iz područja političkih znanosti i političkih studija općenito, odnosno iz svih poddisciplina politologije: političke teorije, međunarodnih odnosa, komparativne politike, hrvatske politike, javne politike, područnih studija, političke komunikacije, obrambenih i sigurnosnih studija i dr. Također, objavljujemo i članke iz područja koje nije moguće jednoznačno klasificirati po njihovoj pripadnosti samo jednoj disciplini nego se nalaze na „granici“ između dviju ili više disciplina: političke povijesti, ekonomske politike, političke filozofije, političke sociologije, političke psihologije, medijskih i kulturalnih studija i sl. Kao izdanje Fakulteta političkih znanosti u Zagrebu, objavljujemo i članke koji su neposredno vezani uz studijske programe na tom fakultetu. “Politička misao” je posebno zainteresirana za radove o hrvatskoj politici i društvu, za radove koji analiziraju Hrvatsku u globalnom kontekstu, kao i za radove koji istražuju politiku i društvo na Balkanu i u Jugoistočnoj Europi, u Europskoj uniji, u susjedstvu Europske unije, te na Mediteranu – regijama s kojima Hrvatska ima neposredni dodir.