Closereads: Philosophy with Mark and Wes

Hobbes on Liberty


Listen Later

On Leviathan (1651), ch. 21, "On the Liberty of Subjects." Thomas Hobbes is known for defending absolute monarchy, so as you'd predict, he's not going to say we have a lot of "natural" liberties.

We do always have the right to self-defense, but that doesn't mean that the sovereign can't with complete justice command you executed (even if you're innocent). Yet Hobbes wants to say that even under a repressive regime we all have lots of liberty, in the sense of no one physically stopping us from doing what we will. And he wants to dismiss as unintelligible any other sense of liberty tied to non-physical obstacles, so this entirely rules out any debate about free will.

Read along with us, starting on p. 161 (PDF p. 197).

You can choose to watch this on video.

Get the ad-free version of this and all of our episodes, including many supporter-exclusive ones, at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Closereads: Philosophy with Mark and WesBy Evergreen Podcasts

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

5 ratings


More shows like Closereads: Philosophy with Mark and Wes

View all
The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,999 Listeners

Philosophize This! by Stephen West

Philosophize This!

15,263 Listeners

History of Westeros (Game of Thrones) by History of Westeros

History of Westeros (Game of Thrones)

1,244 Listeners

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast by Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

2,112 Listeners

Very Bad Wizards by Tamler Sommers & David Pizarro

Very Bad Wizards

2,677 Listeners

History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps by Peter Adamson

History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

1,613 Listeners

The Film Comment Podcast by Film Comment Magazine

The Film Comment Podcast

247 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

113,488 Listeners

Why Theory by Why Theory

Why Theory

582 Listeners

Hermitix by Hermitix

Hermitix

357 Listeners

Fall of Civilizations Podcast by Fall of Civilizations Podcast

Fall of Civilizations Podcast

5,254 Listeners

Acid Horizon by Acid Horizon

Acid Horizon

204 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

15,647 Listeners

The Rest Is Politics by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Politics

3,810 Listeners