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Love and the Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes's Critique of Platonic Eros
Abstract
Hobbes' understanding of love, and its significance for his political thought, has received insufficient attention. This article contends that Hobbes has a consistent and comprehensive teaching on love that directly repudiates what he regards as the Platonic teaching on eros. In attacking the Platonic idea of eros, Hobbes undermines a pillar of classical political philosophy and articulates a significant aspect of his new understanding of the passions in terms of power, which is itself a critical part of his new political science most famously presented in Leviathan.
Journal Title
Political Theory
Volume
36
Issue
6
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© 2008 SAGE Publications. This is the author-manuscript version of the paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.