Hobbes on Politics and Religion

Edited by Laurens van Apeldoorn and Robin Douglass

The first collective study of the relations between Hobbes's political and religious thought
Fifteen original chapters by some of the leading Hobbes scholars in the field
Enriches our understanding of this great early modern thinker
Interdisciplinary and methodologically diverse approach, bringing together perspectives from history, philosophy, and political theory

Hobbes on Politics and Religion

Edited by Laurens van Apeldoorn and Robin Douglass

Description

Thomas Hobbes, one of the most important figures in the history of political philosophy, is still widely regarded as a predominantly secular thinker. Yet a great deal of his political thought was motivated by the need to address problems of a distinctively religious nature. This is the first collection of essays dedicated to the complex and rich intersections between Hobbes's political and religious thought. Written by experts in the field, the volume opens up new directions for thinking about his treatment of religion as a political phenomenon and the political dimensions of his engagement with Christian doctrines and their history. The chapters investigate his strategies for showing how his provocative political positions could be accepted by different religious audiences for whom fidelity to religious texts was of crucial importance, while also considering the legacy of his ideas and examining their relevance for contemporary concerns. Some chapters do so by pursuing mainly historical inquiries about the motives and circumstances of Hobbes's writings, while others reconstruct the logic of his arguments and test their philosophical coherence. They thus offer wide-ranging and sometimes conflicting assessments of Hobbes's ideas, yet they all demonstrate how closely intertwined his political and religious preoccupations are and thereby showcase how this perspective can help us to better understand his thought.

Hobbes on Politics and Religion

Edited by Laurens van Apeldoorn and Robin Douglass

Introduction, Laurens van Apeldoorn and Robin Douglass
1:The Theocratic Leviathan: Hobbes's Arguments for the Identity of Church and State, Johan Olsthoorn
2:Natural Sovereignty and Omnipotence in Hobbes's Leviathan, A. P. Martinich
3:First Impressions: Hobbes on Religion, Education, and the Metaphor of Imprinting, Teresa M. Bejan
4:Tolerance as a Dimension of Hobbes's Absolutism, Franck Lessay
5:Hobbes on the Motives of Martyrs, Alexandra Chadwick
6:Hobbes, Calvinism, and Determinism, Alan Cromartie
7:Mosaic Leviathan: Religion and Rhetoric in Hobbes's Political Thought, Alison McQueen
8:Devil in the Details: Hobbes's Use and Abuse of Scripture, Paul B. Davis
9:The Politics of Hobbes's Historia Ecclesiastica, Patricia Springborg
10:A Profile in Cowardice? Hobbes, Personation, and the Trinity, Glen Newey
11:Hobbes and the Future of Religion, Jon Parkin
12:Hobbes and Early English Deism, Elad Carmel
13:All the Wars of Christendom: Hobbes's Account of Religious Conflict, Jeffrey Collins
14:Religious Conflict and Moral Consensus: Hobbes, Rawls, and Two Types of Moral Justification, Daniel Eggers
15:Hobbes on the Duty Not to Act on Conscience, S. A. Lloyd

Hobbes on Politics and Religion

Edited by Laurens van Apeldoorn and Robin Douglass

Author Information

Edited by Laurens van Apeldoorn, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Leiden University, and Robin Douglass, Senior Lecturer in Political Theory, King's College London

Laurens van Apeldoorn is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and a member of the Centre for Political Philosophy at Leiden University, the Netherlands. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Toronto, the University of Montreal, King's College London, and the University of Leuven. His research has appeared in journals including Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, History of European Ideas, and Hobbes Studies.

Robin Douglass is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Political Economy, King's College London. Before arriving at King's, he studied at the Universities of York and Exeter. His research focuses on seventeenth- and eighteenth- century political philosophy. He is the author of Rousseau and Hobbes: Nature, Free Will, and the Passions (2015) and has recently published articles in journals including the American Journal of Political Science, History of Political Thought, European Journal of Political Theory, and The Review of Politics.

Contributors:

Laurens van Apeldoorn, Philosophy, Leiden University
Teresa M. Bejan, Political Theory, University of Oxford.
Elad Carmel, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Alexandra Chadwick, History of Philosophy, the University of Groningen
Jeffrey Collins, History, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
Alan Cromartie, History of Political Thought at the University of Reading
Paul B. Davis, Roivant Sciences
Robin Douglass, Political Theory, King's College London
Daniel Eggers, Moral and Political Philosophy, University of Cologne
Franck Lessay, Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 University.
S. A. Lloyd, Philosophy and Law, University of Southern California
A. P. Martinich, Philosophy and History & Government, University of Texas at Austin
Alison McQueen, Political Science at Stanford University
Glen Newey was Professor of Practical Philosophy at Leiden University
Johan Olsthoorn, KU Leuven
Jon Parkin, History, Oxford University
Patricia Springborg, British Studies, Humboldt University, Berlin.

Hobbes on Politics and Religion

Edited by Laurens van Apeldoorn and Robin Douglass

Reviews and Awards

"... the book does a wonderful job of treating the various ways in which religion and politics intertwine for Hobbes. ... The standard of scholarship in this publication is superb, with each contributor being both informative and engaging in their exploration of complex themes and concepts. ... this collection is a splendid example of high scholarly standards and is a must read for Hobbes scholars." - Christopher Bobier, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, Philosophy in Review

"It is refreshing to read fifteen erudite articles written by seasoned experts and promising young scholars who engage the wide-ranging question of the intersection of religion and politics in Hobbes's works. The free standing arguments are not framed by Hobbes's alleged religious (in)sincerity, or by a priori conceptions of natural law, or some modernization thesis. This work is therefore a must-read for scholars yearning to explore Hobbes's religious politics in new ways." - Monicka Tutschka, Journal of the History of Philosophy

"HPR was always going to be a must-read for Hobbes scholars, but they will likely be delighted with its thought-provoking chapters. The volume is clearly a significant contribution to the literature." - R.J.W. Mills, School of History, Queen Mary University of London, Hobbes Studies