Thomas Hobbes: Power in the State of Nature, Power in Civil Society

Thomas Hobbes may not be the first power theorist in the history of western political thought, but he is surely among the most thoroughly studied. This essay analyzes how Hobbes's description of power changes in the transition from the state of nature to civil society. While the zero-sum idea of power does not change, the author argues that the changed context from a state of war of each against all to one in which common interests can be realized results in different reasons being given to justify the use of power. In civil society, the zero-sum conception becomes the paradigm for the sovereign power of command.