Reconsidering Hobbes's Account of Practical Deliberation

In: Hobbes studies, Band 25, Heft 2, S. 143-165

Abstract

Thomas Hobbes has been frequently criticised for his account of deliberation that purportedly consists merely of, in his own words, an 'alternate succession of appetite and fear' and therefore lacks the judgement and reflection commentators think is essential if he is to provide an adequate treatment of practical rationality. In this paper Hobbes's account of deliberation is analysed in detail and it is argued that it is not vulnerable to this critique. Hobbes takes so-called 'mental discourse' to be partly constitutive of the process of practical deliberation, and this provides the cognitive judgement and reflection that critics have claimed it lacks.