著者

岡垣 知子

出版者

獨協大学法学会

雑誌

獨協法学 = Dokkyo law review (ISSN:03899942)

巻号頁・発行日

no.101, pp.横1 (320)-横20 (301), 2016-12

著者

岡垣 知子

出版者

JAPAN ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

雑誌

国際政治 (ISSN:04542215)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.2000, no.124, pp.64-88,L9, 2000-05-12 (Released:2010-09-01)

参考文献数

85

---

The essay seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the international thought of Thomas Hobbes by reexamining his Leviathan and by reevaluating his views on human nature, war, and international relations in light of the current theories of international politics. Although in the study of political theory Hobbes has been most commonly known as a precursor of liberalism, advocating the right of self-preservation of individuals, his political thought has long been regarded as belonging to the “realist” paradigm in the field of international politics, which has been considered as contending with the “liberal” paradigm. One of the objectives in the essay is to fill in this gap that exists in the interpretations of Hobbes between political theory and international politics.The typical interpretations of political thought of Hobbes as “realist” in international politics are: 1) Hobbes considers war as a lasting feature of international relations; 2) Hobbes takes a pessimistic view on human nature as endlessly seeking power after power; 3) Hobbes applies the analogy of the state of nature to international relations. The essay argues that Hobbes' “war” simply means the conditions where peace cannot be guaranteed in the long term, and therefore, should not be taken literally, that Hobbes is rather an optimist especially with regard to the potential of human reason that could work toward peace by agreeing to establish “Leviathan”, and that his analogy of the state of nature applies to the individual state behavior, but not necessarily to international relations.The prevalent misunderstanding of Hobbes in the field of international politics is at least partly attributed to the tendency to regard realism and liberalism as dichotomous theories of international politics, which exaggerates the realist aspects of Hobbes to the last degree. A more careful reading of Hobbes reveals more optimistic, moralist, liberal, and peace-loving components in Hobbesian political theory than are currently recognized. This leads us to conclude that a coherent, clear “Hobbesian paradigm” is difficult to establish in the study of international politics. Rather, his contributions to the theories of international politics have been sporadic, though undoubtedly important.What we owe most to Hobbes are his deductive methodology and his insightful political concepts such as the relativity of power, the notion of time, and his rational egoistic image of a state, which still provide us with useful fresh tools of analysis in today's international politics. We should also note, however, that the historical context in which Hobbes lived limited him to focusing mainly on domestic politics. His image of international relations in Leviathan is at best a primitive, dynastic one, where no clear distinction between international and domestic politics is made. Hobbes lived in a historical period where the notion of international system had yet to exist.

著者

岡垣 知子

出版者

国際安全保障学会

雑誌

国際安全保障 (ISSN:13467573)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.33, no.3, pp.127-131, 2005-12-31 (Released:2022-04-24)

著者

岡垣 知子

出版者

獨協大学法学会

雑誌

独協法学 (ISSN:03899942)

巻号頁・発行日

no.99, pp.264-258, 2016-04