Hobbes on the State
Talking Politics: HISTORY OF IDEAS
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The Only Price of Security Is the Choice
Hobbs is not advocating arbitrary rule, but radical uncertainty. He thinks the only price of security is that the sovereign ultimately must be allowed to decide what counts as a threat. To be a sovereign in hobbs's state is both to have extraordinary power and also to have ordinary power. It's almost as though the sovereign is the only one still leading a natural life. And yet it's a completely unnatural life. As hobbs says, it's a wholly artificial role. It's being created mechanically.
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