ABSTRACT
Thomas Hobbes regarded himself as the founder of political philosophy or political science. He was certain that traditional political philosophy 'was rather a dream than science'. He identifies traditional political philosophy with the quest for the best regime or for the simply just social order, and therefore with a pursuit that is political not merely because it deals with political matters because it is animated by a political spirit. He identifies traditional political philosophy with that particular tradition that was public spirited or—to employ a term which is loose indeed but at present still easily intelligible—that was 'idealistic'. There is a remarkable parallelism and an even more remarkable discrepancy between Hobbes's theoretical philosophy and his practical philosophy. Hobbes's rationalism, then, rests ultimately on the conviction that, thanks to nature's kindness, the strongest passion is the only passion which can be 'the origin of large and lasting societies' or that the strongest passion is the most rational passion.
