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Hobbes claimed to have discovered two most certain (certissima) postulates of human nature: first, the postulate cupiditatis naturalis, whereby man demands private use of common things and second, the postulate rationis naturalis, which teaches man to avoid violent death or "fly contra-natural dissolution" as the greatest natural evil. From these two postulates, Hobbes claims to demonstrate "by most evident connection" his moral and civil doctrines. But the character of Hobbes's two postulates and their role in grounding his political philosophy has been a flashpoint of contention. This is not surprising given what is at stake: our reading of these postulates will implicate our understanding of Hobbes's most celebrated moral and political doctrines. In what follows, I take up Leo Strauss's influential analysis of the Hobbes's two postulates and identify some problems for Strauss's interpretation. I then sketch a rereading of the two postulates in light of the Christian Aristotelian or Thomistic tradition of thought. I argue that Hobbes's human nature teaching is not as radically novel as has often been thought.1

There has been a considerable amount of literature in the last 70 years claiming that the American founders were steeped in modern thought. This study runs counter to that tradition, arguing that the founders of America were deeply indebted to the classical Christian natural-law tradition for their fundamental theological, moral, and political outlook. Evidence for this thesis is found in case studies of such leading American founders as Thomas Jefferson and James Wilson, the pamphlet debates, the founders' invocation of providence during the revolution, and their understanding of popular sovereignty. The authors go on to reflect on how the founders' political thought contained within it the resources that undermined, in principle, the institution of slavery, and explores the relevance of the founders' political theology for contemporary politics. This timely, important book makes a significant contribution to the scholarly debate over whether the American founding is compatible with traditional Christianity.

AbstractWhile the role of theology in Jefferson's political thought and its implications for how we should understand the role of "Nature's God" in grounding natural-rights republicanism are topics of ongoing scholarly interest, scholars have missed important continuities between Jefferson's natural-law theory and that of classical, theistic natural-law. Many scholars who have considered Jefferson in this light have emphasized Jefferson's discontinuity and even subversion of that tradition. In critical dialogue with this vein of scholarship, we argue that Jefferson espouses a creational metaphysics and a natural-law theory of morality that has surprising continuities with classical natural-law. We seek to shed new light on Jefferson's theory of the moral sense and his the earth belongs to the living principle, which we contend encapsulates his theistic understanding of equality and property.

The first reference work to explore the 2000-year history of political realism and reassess its place in today's worldDownload an ebook of the chapter abstracts and notes on contributors (pdf)Political realism is a highly diverse body of international relations theory. This substantial reference work examines political realism in terms of its history, its scientific methodology and its normative role in international affairs.Split into three sections, it covers the 2000-year canon of realism: the different schools of thought, the key thinkers and how it responds to foreign policy challenges faced by individual states and globally. It brings political realism up-to-date by showing where theory has failed to keep up with contemporary problems and suggests how it can be applied and adapted to fit our new, globalised world order.Key FeaturesThe first volume to offer a full, balanced guide to Political Realism: its history and its normative role in international affairsCovers the main thinkers, from Thucydides through Niccolò Machiavelli to Isaiah BerlinEngages with the major foreign policy issues of our times, such as strategic deterrence, nationalism, terrorism, cyber security, climate change, the open society and religionConsiders political realism in non-Western contexts, including Israel, Russia and ChinaIncludes political realism's ground-up growth and interpretation outwith Western contextsContributorsUriel Abulof, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.Christopher Adair-Toteff, Zeppelin University, Germany.Erica Benner, Yale University, USA.John Bew, King's College London, UK.Todd Breyfogle, Aspen Institute, Washington, D.C., USA.Joshua Cherniss, Georgetown University, USA.Alan Chong, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore.Lindsay P. Cohn, U.S. Naval War College, USA.Kody W. Cooper, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA.Marzieh Kouhi Esfahani, Durham University, UK.Markus Fischer, California State University, Fullerton, USA.Richard Forno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA.Stuart Gray, Politics at Washington and Lee University, USA.Robert Howse, New York University School of Law, USA.David Martin Jones, University of Queensland, Australia and King's College London, UK.Menno R. Kamminga, University of Groningen, Netherlands.Peter Iver Kaufman, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and University of Richmond, USA.David Kerr, Durham University, UK.Paul Kirkland, Carthage College, Wisconsin, USA.Douglas B. Klusmeyer, American University, Washington, DC, USA.Konstantinos Kostagiannis, University of Maastricht, Netherlands.Ayelet Haimson Lushkov, University of Texas at Austin, USA.Cecelia Lynch, University of California, Irvine, USA.David Mayers, Boston University, USA.Kenneth B. McIntyre, Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, USA.Neville Morley, University of Exeter, UK.John Mueller, Mershon Center for International Security Studies and Ohio State University, USA.Masashi Okuyama, International Geopolitica