Hobbes Against Friendship: The Modern Marginalisation of an Ancient Political Concept

This book explores why and how Thomas  Hobbes – the 17th century founder of political science -- contributed to the modern marginalisation of ‘friendship’, a concept that stood in the foreground of ancient moral and political thought  and that is  currently undergoing a revival. The study shows that Hobbes did not question the occurrence of friendship; rather, he rejected friendship as an explanatory and normative principle of peace and cooperation. Hobbes’s stance was influential because it captured the spirit of modernity- its individualism, nominalism, practical scepticism, and materialism. Hobbes’s legacy has a bearing on contemporary debates about civic, international and global friendship.  

Gabriella Slomp is Professor of International Political Theory, University of St Andrews, UK. Former editor of Hobbes Studies, she is the author of Thomas Hobbes and the Political Philosophy of Glory (2000); editor of Thomas Hobbes (2008);  co-editor (with R. Prokhovnik) of  International Political Theory after Hobbes (2011).