Made with Words

Hobbes on Language, Mind, and Politics

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Government, Local Government, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Mind & Body
Cover of the book Made with Words by Philip Pettit, Princeton University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Philip Pettit ISBN: 9781400828227
Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication: July 6, 2009
Imprint: Princeton University Press Language: English
Author: Philip Pettit
ISBN: 9781400828227
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication: July 6, 2009
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Language: English

Hobbes's extreme political views have commanded so much attention that they have eclipsed his work on language and mind, and on reasoning, personhood, and group formation. But this work is of immense interest in itself, as Philip Pettit shows in Made with Words, and it critically shapes Hobbes's political philosophy.

Pettit argues that it was Hobbes, not later thinkers like Rousseau, who invented the invention of language thesis--the idea that language is a cultural innovation that transformed the human mind. The invention, in Hobbes's story, is a double-edged sword. It enables human beings to reason, commit themselves as persons, and incorporate in groups. But it also allows them to agonize about the future and about their standing relative to one another; it takes them out of the Eden of animal silence and into a life of inescapable conflict--the state of nature. Still, if language leads into this wasteland, according to Hobbes, it can also lead out. It can enable people to establish a commonwealth where the words of law and morality have a common, enforceable sense, and where people can invoke the sanctions of an absolute sovereign to give their words to one another in credible commitment and contract.

Written by one of today's leading philosophers, Made with Words is both an original reinterpretation and a clear and lively introduction to Hobbes's thought.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Hobbes's extreme political views have commanded so much attention that they have eclipsed his work on language and mind, and on reasoning, personhood, and group formation. But this work is of immense interest in itself, as Philip Pettit shows in Made with Words, and it critically shapes Hobbes's political philosophy.

Pettit argues that it was Hobbes, not later thinkers like Rousseau, who invented the invention of language thesis--the idea that language is a cultural innovation that transformed the human mind. The invention, in Hobbes's story, is a double-edged sword. It enables human beings to reason, commit themselves as persons, and incorporate in groups. But it also allows them to agonize about the future and about their standing relative to one another; it takes them out of the Eden of animal silence and into a life of inescapable conflict--the state of nature. Still, if language leads into this wasteland, according to Hobbes, it can also lead out. It can enable people to establish a commonwealth where the words of law and morality have a common, enforceable sense, and where people can invoke the sanctions of an absolute sovereign to give their words to one another in credible commitment and contract.

Written by one of today's leading philosophers, Made with Words is both an original reinterpretation and a clear and lively introduction to Hobbes's thought.

More books from Princeton University Press

Cover of the book "Keep the Damned Women Out" by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book The Econometrics of Individual Risk by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book Trust and Violence by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book Real Analysis by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book Insomniac Dreams by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book In-Your-Face Politics by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book Reflections on the Musical Mind by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book Strange Glow by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book Raptors of Mexico and Central America by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book Ethics and the Beast by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book In Search of Israel by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book Bayesian Non- and Semi-parametric Methods and Applications by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book Modern Political Science by Philip Pettit
Cover of the book The European Guilds by Philip Pettit
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy