Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Book Review: The Limits of Reason in Hobbes’s Commonwealth , written by Krom, Michael

Book Review: The Limits of Reason in Hobbes’s Commonwealth , written by Krom, Michael London: Continuum. 2011, Hardback: isbn : 9781441182616, Paperback: 9781472505934. Michael Krom’s valuable book challenges Hobbes’s reliance on rational self-interest: stable commonwealths need a wider range of motivations. Some things prized by Hobbes may even be irrational, undermining peace. Krom’s questions are important and his answers advance the literature. However, his language diverges from Hobbes’s, and some criticisms can be deflected. Krom’s analysis is primarily textual and philosophical. He rationally reconstructs Hobbes’s ideas on reason and the passions in the state of nature and commonwealth, then tests consistency and plausibility. Krom mainly addresses Leviathan , Hobbes’s ‘most mature and complete work’, adding other texts ‘as a guide for interpretation’. 1 However, Krom uses the Philosophical Rudiments , not the Tuck and Silverthorne edition of De Cive (imperfect though it can be), and could place more weight on Hobbes’s debate with Bishop Bramhall. Krom writes clearly and links chapters well. He has a deft interpretative touch, a sensitive and reflective stance on Hobbes, and a respectful but critical approach to secondary authors. Although the three-page introduction is too brief, the book’s importance becomes evident as it progresses. The book, as a book, suffers from the hands-off approach now common with http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Hobbes Studies Brill

Book Review: The Limits of Reason in Hobbes’s Commonwealth , written by Krom, Michael

Blau, Adrian
Hobbes Studies , Volume 27 (2): 207 – Sep 8, 2014
Download PDF
7 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/brill/book-review-the-limits-of-reason-in-hobbes-s-commonwealth-written-by-uT1sTKbovW

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
Subject
Book Reviews
ISSN
0921-5891
eISSN
1875-0257
DOI
10.1163/18750257-02702002
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

London: Continuum. 2011, Hardback: isbn : 9781441182616, Paperback: 9781472505934. Michael Krom’s valuable book challenges Hobbes’s reliance on rational self-interest: stable commonwealths need a wider range of motivations. Some things prized by Hobbes may even be irrational, undermining peace. Krom’s questions are important and his answers advance the literature. However, his language diverges from Hobbes’s, and some criticisms can be deflected. Krom’s analysis is primarily textual and philosophical. He rationally reconstructs Hobbes’s ideas on reason and the passions in the state of nature and commonwealth, then tests consistency and plausibility. Krom mainly addresses Leviathan , Hobbes’s ‘most mature and complete work’, adding other texts ‘as a guide for interpretation’. 1 However, Krom uses the Philosophical Rudiments , not the Tuck and Silverthorne edition of De Cive (imperfect though it can be), and could place more weight on Hobbes’s debate with Bishop Bramhall. Krom writes clearly and links chapters well. He has a deft interpretative touch, a sensitive and reflective stance on Hobbes, and a respectful but critical approach to secondary authors. Although the three-page introduction is too brief, the book’s importance becomes evident as it progresses. The book, as a book, suffers from the hands-off approach now common with

Journal

Hobbes Studies – Brill

Published: Sep 8, 2014

There are no references for this article.