ABSTRACT
Field’s article has the great merit of identifying perhaps the most fundamental weakness of the form of government proposed in Leviathan (Hobbes 2012). To support the claim that it really can supply in practice the peace and general prosperity that are its main goals in theory, it relies on some heroic assumptions about the capacity for self-restraint of the person or persons who will occupy the office of sovereign. As she points out, Hobbes spends a great deal of time on analysing the irrationality which constitutes the natural condition of humanity when he is discussing the potential problems that can arise amongst the subjects of Leviathan. In particular, because people are creatures of their imaginations first and foremost, they are liable to acquire ideas about religion and authority that lead them to become dissatisfied with the existing order. But in the end, she says, ‘Hobbes is successful’ in his project of ‘securing an enduringly peaceful commonwealth’, thanks to the fear of the absolute authority that he grants the sovereign.
