Thomas Hobbes: Skepticism, Individuality, and Chastened Politics (Modernity and Political Thought)

Contemporary political theory has produced a rich body of new ideas and approaches--feminism, structuralism, poststructuralism, and postmodernism--which continue to force a reassessment of the history of political thought. Like other major figures in the European and American intellectual traditions, Thomas Hobbes must be reexamined in this new and complex environment of theoretical developments. In this fascinating new volume, Richard E. Flathman aims to do what Hobbes often did to his own philosophical predecessors--to wrench him out of his context, to thrust him into ours, to make his texts speak to questions of present philosophical and especially moral, and political concerns. Like the other volumes in this outstanding series, Thomas Hobbes offers upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, professionals, and academics a compelling and accessible interpretation of one of the most important figures in the history of political thought. "Richard E. Flathman's book is well written, clear, and provides a good introduction to Hobbes's thinking, particularly in connection to the Individualist interpretation of Hobbes's theory of obligation. I recommend it for scholars and students of Hobbes as an exposition of Hobbes and for a few new twists on the individualist interpretation." --International Studies in Philosophy "A remarkable contribution to a potential poststructural reading of Hobbes." --The Journal of Politics "[This book] is must reading for students of Hobbes' political thought and political theory in general. . . . An important addition to libraries serving advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty." --Choice "This is an illuminating companion volume to Richard E. Flathman's fascinating and highly original book, Willful Liberalism. In it Flathman develops an interpretation of Hobbes' thought as having at its heart a conception of human beings as willful and self-making creatures that is of the sharpest relevance to current political theory and practice. This is an accomplished and subtly reasoned book that will well repay reading by anyone interested in the modern political condition and in the limits of political action in the contemporary world." --John Gray, Jesus College, Oxford University "Amidst the vogue of rationalist and game-theoretical interpretations of Hobbes, Flathman's book provides a breath of fresh air. Rehabilitating the passions as moving forces of human conduct and presenting Hobbes as a defender of 'robust individuality,' his reading shows that, at the eve of the twenty-first century, the thought of that early modern thinker is more relevant than ever." --Chantal Mouffe, Collége International de Philosophie in Paris "Taking issue with the current liberal belief in the reconciling power of rationality, Flathman's 'hobbesian liberalism' is a celebration of vigorous form of individuality. Reading Hobbes as an advocate of individual self-making and pluralism, he forces us to confront the challenge that he still poses for democratic politics in the age of late modernity." --Chantal Mouffe, Collège International de Philosophie, Paris This product is now available from: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Phone: 800-462-6420 Fax: 800-338-4550 http:\\www.rowmanlittlefield.comRichard E. Flathman is the author of 'Thomas Hobbes: Skepticism, Individuality, and Chastened Politics (Modernity and Political Thought)', published 1993 under ISBN 9780803940819 and ISBN 0803940815.