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Genre/Form: | Thèses et écrits académiques |
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Named Person: | Thomas Hobbes |
Material Type: | Document, Thesis/dissertation |
Document Type: | Computer File |
All Authors / Contributors: |
Anne Jean; Céline Spector; Christophe Bouton; Luc Foisneau; Emmanuel Renault; Katia Genel; Université Bordeaux Montaigne.; École doctorale Montaigne-Humanités (Pessac, Gironde).; Sciences, Philosophie, Humanités (Bordeaux). |
OCLC Number: | 1269611820 |
Notes: | Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. |
Description: | 1 online resource |
Responsibility: | Anne Jean ; sous la direction de Céline Spector. |
Abstract:
The study of the interpretation and the uses of Hobbes by Horkheimer, Borkenau and Neumann sheds new light on the frequent connection between the absolutist and totalitarian state. Hobbes' philosophy is indeed a subject of much discussions and often referred to in France and in Germany in the 1930s: it makes it possible to examine whether Fascism has its prehistory in the absolutist theory and time or whether it represents a new form of domination where its differences with absolutism are concerned. The uses of Hobbes in the Frankfurt School are part of this constellation made up of the various interpretations of Hobbes' philosophy at this time, in particular those of Leo Strauss and Carl Schmitt. However, from their materialist perspective, Horkheimer and Neumann have conflicting interpretations of Hobbes' thought. On the one hand, Horkheimer and, to a certain extent, Borkenau detect in Hobbes both the outline of the critical gesture proper to the bourgeois philosophy (and later to the Aufklärung), and the apology of domination, because of his pessimistic anthropology and theory of absolute state. The ambivalence inherent in his philosophy is never overcome. On the other hand, Neumann builds a picture of a “liberal Hobbes” and makes use of his concepts of “natural right” and “sovereignty” in order to create a set of criteria to criticize the structures and practices of National-Socialism. Finally, for Horkheimer, a link of continuity can be perceived between absolutist state and “authoritarian state” because there is no clean rupture between absolutist, liberal and fascist times. On the contrary, according to Neumann, Hobbes' absolutist theory differs from Nazi ideology and practices in his articulation between sovereignty and individual rights. The liberal values of liberty, rights, democracy are indeed effective weapons against National-Socialism. All in all, this work shows the political dimension of Critical Theory in its early time through its uses of Hobbes.
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