Sovereign Resistance to Reading in Hobbes's Leviathan.
This text explores the relationship between sovereignty and reading in Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan. It argues that sovereignty both necessitates and rejects reading, excluding it in order to monopolize it. The text examines Hobbes's self-reading strategy and the tension between the need for language a...
| Publicado en: | CR: The New Centennial Review Vol. 23; no. 2; pp. 147 - 184 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Michigan State University Press
Fall2023
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| Sumario: | This text explores the relationship between sovereignty and reading in Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan. It argues that sovereignty both necessitates and rejects reading, excluding it in order to monopolize it. The text examines Hobbes's self-reading strategy and the tension between the need for language and the desire for absolute control over interpretation. It concludes that sovereignty must compromise itself and fail to function because it relies on language to legislate. Additionally, the text discusses Hobbes's views on the role of books and the importance of universities in teaching the correct doctrines to prevent discord. It also explores the idea that a self-reading text like Leviathan would ultimately suppress its own language and cease to exist as a text. |
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