The construction of concepts in Hobbes’ civil science: an approach from his earlier works

Abstract

This research describes the role of rhetoric and history in the construction of concepts in civil science, using Hobbes’ early writings as a framework. To this end, it was necessary to identify the relation between rhetoric and civil science in The Brief Art of Rhetoric, to analyze the emergence of civil science in Horae Subsecivae (Three Discourses) and to understand the influence of Thucydides’ War of the Peloponnesus in the formation of the concept of state of nature. In terms of method, a genetic analysis of categories was used, which made possible the positing of relations between Hobbes’ early and mature writings. The research was financed by the Universidad de La Salle and is a result linked to the philosophy faculty research group Estudios Hobbesianos (Hobbesian Studies) which is a category C group.