Thomas Hobbes's Conception of Peace

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Maximilian Jaede

   Pages 1-16

3. Peace and Society

   • Maximilian Jaede

   Pages 17-42

4. Peace and Justice

   • Maximilian Jaede

   Pages 43-70

5. Peace and Defence

   • Maximilian Jaede

   Pages 71-93

6. Conclusion

   • Maximilian Jaede

   Pages 95-102

7. Back Matter

   Pages 103-105

   PDF

This book explores Hobbes’s ideas about the internal pacification of states, the prospect of a peaceful international order, and the connections between civil and international peace. It questions the notion of a negative Hobbesian peace, which is based on the mere suppression of violence, and emphasises his positive vision of everlasting peace in a well-governed commonwealth. The book also highlights Hobbes’s ideas about international coexistence and cooperation, which he considers integral to good government. In examining Hobbes’s conception of peace, it provides a fresh perspective on his international political thought. The findings also have wider implications for the ways in which we think about Hobbes’s relationship to the realist and liberal traditions of international thought, and will appeal to students and scholars of political theory and international relations.

• Thomas Hobbes
• Hobbe's conception of peace
• Civil society and Hobbes
• International order and Hobbes
• International Political Theory
• pacification of states
• civil and international peace
• Hobbesian peace
• Hobbes and international coexistence
• Hobbes and international cooperation
• realism and international relations
• liberalism and international relations
• international relations theory
• Hobbes’s international political thought
• Hobbes and peace studies
• Good government
• Sovereignty and international order
• Civil and international peace
• peace and justice
• peace and society

“Despite recent work in the history of political thought and international relations theory depicting Hobbes either as a realist or a liberal internationalist, he was in fact neither, as Jaede’s thought-provoking book shows. Hobbes’s theory of peace may significantly depart from our modern international order, as he argues, but it nevertheless serves as a useful vantage point from which we can—and should—critique and re-evaluate our current condition.” (Professor Theodore Christov, George Washington University, USA)

“In this timely volume, Jaede addresses the relationship of international and civil peace, showing that Hobbes understood their close connection. His was a realistic understanding of international relations, at odds with both modern realists’ focus on war and liberal internationalists’ faith in international institutions. Governments, he thought, should be prepared for war and, through good rule, simultaneously pursue peace at home. Jaede’s Hobbes foresees the modern reality that international peace feeds on civil peace.” (Professor Deborah Baumgold, University of Oregon, USA)

• Centre for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

  Maximilian Jaede

Maximilian Jaede is Course Organiser at the Centre for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh, UK. Previously, he was a research fellow at the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and taught political theory at the University of Stirling, UK. 

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