Thomas Hobbes’s Elements of Law and His Third Objections to Descartes’s Meditations

Krzysztof Wawrzonkowski

doi:10.18290/rf20682-9

Krzysztof Wawrzonkowski Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2792-1312

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rf20682-9

Keywords: Hobbes, Descartes, Elements of Law, conceptions, objections, idea, Meditations

Abstract

In this article I endeavour to present the axis of the dispute between Hobbes and Descartes on the ground of Meditation, and its most important moments. I focus primarily on the analysis of the most important accusations made by Hobbes and the reconstruction of some of his views, which at the time could only be found in The Elements of Law, Nature, and Politics. This work was the first major and coherent attempt to speak out on cognitive-theory and social issues; I strive to defend the thesis that understanding the content of Objections requires knowledge of this work. The mature form of the work shows that the Englishman already had his views well thought-out and could feel quite confident in formulating from their perspective critical remarks on Descartes’s philosophy, to which, it seems, he may have owed quite a lot.

Author Biography

Krzysztof Wawrzonkowski, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń

Krzysztof Wawrzonkowski, PhD, Hab, is an associate professor at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Department of History of Philosophy, Systematic Philosophy and Ethics at the Institute of Philosophy

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