Hobbes and Modern Political Thought

Yves Charles Zarka is Professor of Political Philosophy at the Université Paris Descartes (Sorbonne), the general editor of Oeuvres de Hobbes (Vrin), and has also published La décision métaphysique de Hobbes (Vrin). He edits the journal Cités (PUF) and, among his works on contemporary political philosophy, has recently published Refaire l'Europe (PUF), Refonder le cosmopolitanisme (PUF), and L'inappropriabilité de la Terre (Armand Colin)." James Griffith is Assistant Professor in the History of Political Thought at the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts.

Zarka’s book is the culmination of years of reflection by one of the most important Hobbes scholars working in France today … On account of the acumen with which the author identifies the philosophical stakes of Hobbes’ project, the clarity with which he elaborates Hobbesian concepts, and the complexity and originality of the readings advanced along the way, Hobbes and Modern Political Thought is worthy of careful study by students of Hobbes or anyone interested in the origins of modern political philosophy.

• Translator’s IntroductionForeword1. Journey: To the Foundations of Modern PoliticsPart I. Individual and State2. Gracián’s Hero and Hobbes’s Antihero3. The Hobbesian Idea of Political PhilosophyPart II. Language and Power4. Theory of Language5. The Semiology of PowerPart III. Fundamental Concepts of Politics6. On War7. On Law8. On Property9. On the State10. On the Right to PunishPart IV. Hobbes According to Two Contemporaries11. Hobbes and Filmer: Regnum Patrimoniale and Regnum Institutivum12. Hobbes and Pascal: Two Models of the Theory of PowerConclusion: Hobbes’s ContributionBibliography