Thomas Hobbes's Conception of Peace: Civil Society and International Order [Hardcover]

This book explores Hobbess ideas about the internal pacification of states, the prospect of a peaceful international order, and the connections between civil and international peace. It questions the notion of a negative Hobbesian peace, which is based on the mere suppression of violence, and emphasises his positive vision of everlasting peace in a well-governed commonwealth. The book also highlights Hobbess ideas about international coexistence and cooperation, which he considers integral to good government. In examining Hobbess conception of peace, it provides a fresh perspective on his international political thought. The findings also have wider implications for the ways in which we think about Hobbess relationship to the realist and liberal traditions of international thought, and will appeal to students and scholars of political theory and international relations.

1. Introduction.- 2. Peace and society.- 3. Peace, justice and law.- 4. Peace and defence.- 5.  Conclusion.

Maximilian Jaede is Course Organiser at the Centre for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh, UK. Previously, he was a research fellow at the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and taught political theory at the University of Stirling, UK. 

Despite recent work in the history of political thought and international relations theory depicting Hobbes either as a realist or a liberal internationalist, he was in fact neither, as Jaedes thought-provoking book shows. Hobbess theory of peace may significantly depart from our modern international order, as he argues, but it nevertheless serves as a useful vantage point from which we canand shouldcritique and re-evaluate our current condition. Professor Theodore Christov, George Washington Univel³B