JEAN BODIN AND THOMAS HOBBES: IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT SOVEREIGN

Abstract

The paper deals with the reception of Jean Bodin‘s political ideas in the works of Thomas Hobbes. The analysis of the relationship between the political traditions of France and England helps understand the presentation of the ideal political system of European thinkers of the Early Modern period. Bodin‘s theory of sovereignty is an essential part of Thomas Hobbes‘s doctrine. This may be verified in the theory of civil obedience, as it is reflected in both authors‘ works. The paper attempts to verify this hypothesis and other themes by comparing the subjects and issues raised in the works of Bodin and Hobbes that determined the development of modern legal and political thought. The paper suggests that the relationship between Bodin‘s and Hobbes‘s intellectual ideas may be stronger than it is assumed in the historiography.

Keywords

• bodin, hobbes, absolutism, sovereignty, divine and natural law, obedience