Revisiting Hobbes: on freedom, political authority and civil disobedience

Authors

  • Marta Nunes da Costa Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18012/arf.2016.39473

Keywords:

dominion, freedom, Hobbes, political authority, subjection, submission

Abstract

This paper has two main sections. First, I argue that Hobbes was capable of providing a convincing model of political authority that strengthened the absolutist monarchy, due to two main factors: on the one hand, Hobbes’ conceptualization of freedom, which allowed him to offer a new light upon the relationship between obedience, obligation, freedom and servitude; on the other hand, Hobbes’ redefinition of sovereignty via the concept of representation. I show how Hobbes was aware of the intrinsic tension derived from the attempted convergence of these two distinct logics and I question the kinds of political rupture that are possible under Hobbes’ design, in such a way that would keep a democratic instinct and impulse in political life. After I revisit the relationship between freedom, power and civil disobedience, by looking at the relationship between the sovereign’s and the subjects’ capacity of judgment and by reflecting upon contemporary democratic challenges.

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Author Biography

Marta Nunes da Costa, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil

Professora Adjunta do curso de Filosofia, UFMS. Professora Permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Filosofia da Universidade do Oeste do Paraná - Unioeste

References

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SKINNER Q. (2008). Hobbes and Republican Liberty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Revista Aufklärung. v.5, n. 2 (2019), Maio-Agosto

Additional Files

Published

2018-09-30

How to Cite

Nunes da Costa, M. (2018). Revisiting Hobbes: on freedom, political authority and civil disobedience. Aufklärung, 5(2), p.59–74. https://doi.org/10.18012/arf.2016.39473

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2018): Revista Aufklärung. v.5, n. 2 (2019), Maio-Agosto

Section

Articles

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