Suchergebnisse

EARLY WRITINGS OF JOHN LOCKE, ARGUING THAT THE POWER OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE SHOULD BE ABSOLUTE, ARE CLAIMED TO HAVE LITTLE CONNECTION WITH HIS LATER WORK WHICH STRESSES LIBERAL TOLERATION. THIS ARTICLE ATTEMPTS TO CONNECT THE TWO BY RECONSTRUCTING LOCKE'S CRITIQUE OF RELIGIOUS POLITICS. THIS DEMONSTRATION IS THEN USED TO EXPLAIN LOCKE'S DEVELOPMENT AND ILLUMINATE THE FOUNDATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY LIBERALISM.

HOBBES'S HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR, THE BEHEMOTH, HAS BEEN NEGLECTED BY CONTEMPORARY SCHOLARS, YET IT PROVIDES THE CLEAREST STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM THAT HOBBES'S POLITICAL SCIENCE IS DESIGNED TO SOLVE. IN BEHEMOTH, HOBBES SHOWS THAT SOCIETIES SUCH AS SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ENGLAND INEVITABLY DEGENERATE INTO CIVIL WAR BECAUSE THEY ARE FOUNDED ON AUTHORITATIVE OPINION. THE CLAIM THAT THERE IS A SINGLE, AUTHORITATIVE DEFINITION OF RIGHTNESS OR TRUTH WHICH IS NOT AN ARBITRARY HUMAN CHOICE IS AN ILLUSION OF "INTELLECTUAL VAINGLORY," A FEELING OF PRIDE IN THE SUPERIORITY OF ONE'S OPINIONS WHICH CAUSES PERSECUTION AND CIVIL STRIFE. BY PRESENTING HOBBES'S HISTORICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THIS PROBLEM, I ILLUMINATE HIS ARGUMENT FOR ABSOLUTISM AND SHOW THAT HOBBES IS NOT A PRECURSOR OF TOTALITARIANISM BUT A FOUNDER OF LIBERALISM.