Power and Potentia in Hobbes. The Mechanistic Perspective between Natural and Political Philosophy

Abstract

Through the elaboration of his political philosophy, Hobbes wishes to present himself as a representative of the new mechanistic and deterministic science of the seventeenth century, by applying Galilei’s method in politics and by refusing the Aristotelian metaphysics and natural philosophy as well. The aim of the present article is to challenge this claim. As a matter of fact, Hobbes’s thought seems to be characterised by an original co-existence of decisionism and mechanism and his view of the natural law does not appear to be based on deterministic principles, but on a voluntarist and moral character condensed in his theory of passions.