Pierre Nicole on Political Authority, Recognition and Self-Cultivation

Nicole shares with Hobbes the view that the state of nature is a war of all against all andthe view that there is a natural duty not to offend others’ feelings of self-worth. The latter view can be understood as a conception of recognition of others’ basic needs. Nicole uses this idea to defend the political conception of succession through birth which avoids conflicts that would arise over injured feelings of self-worth. How persuasive is Nicole’s suggestion? His analysis of how hierarchies distort the imagination of the high-ranking and the lower-ranking is relevant for this question. Distorted esteem for the qualities of the high-ranking turns out to be detrimental to the basic needs of the lower-ranking and the high-ranking. This motivates Nicole’s alternative conception of recognition as insight into shared human weaknesses—an insight that requires self-cultivation in the sense of rethinking one’s attitudes towards oneself and others.