Subjectivity and sovereignty: The Cartesian dimension of the position of the sovereign in Hobbes' "Leviathan"

Abstract

Although Hobbes' understanding of the sovereign's position in a state and Descartes' understanding of God arose completely independently from each other, there is a strong structural similarity between the two. After elaborating on this point, the author demonstrates the metaphysical foundation of Hobbes' conception of the sovereign. The main thesis of the paper is that the subjectivity of sovereign is not the so-called 'empirical' subjectivity of early modern philosophy, but that it is equivalent to God's subjectivity, as understood in Descartes as immense power.

Keywords

• God
• mortal God
• power
• sovereign