TY - JOUR

T1 - The Frontispiece of Leviathan

T2 - Hobbes´ Bible Use

AU - Östman, Lars

PY - 2012/1/22

Y1 - 2012/1/22

N2 - This article analyses the frontispiece of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan with a focus on the relation between theology and politics as it is illustrated on the cover of this grand œuvre, and in particular on the figure of Leviathan himself. The scope of the article is to discuss the form of power and authority symbolised on the frontispiece, and it is thus not an image analyses in the traditional sense. Rather, it is to discuss the kind of political theory the frontispiece represents. Not only is Hobbes’ decision to put forward a theory of a commonwealth that is both civil as well as ecclesiastical only a few years after the great religious Thirty Years’ War a bold one: Leviathan represents a new way of conceiving the relation between sovereign and citizen as it combines Christian political theory and aesthetics. Having its methodological point of departure especially in Giorgio Agamben, the article will develop the argument that Leviathan, in this regard, represents a political version of the Christian angelology. Leviathan becomes the “divine messenger” par excellence, who functions as temporal minister and administrator of God’s will and government. The central questions of the article therefore are: how and why does Hobbes’ Leviathan achieve his authority and power through theological ideas on power, and how decisive is the Bible in this regard? In other words, how is Hobbes’ Bible use political?

AB - This article analyses the frontispiece of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan with a focus on the relation between theology and politics as it is illustrated on the cover of this grand œuvre, and in particular on the figure of Leviathan himself. The scope of the article is to discuss the form of power and authority symbolised on the frontispiece, and it is thus not an image analyses in the traditional sense. Rather, it is to discuss the kind of political theory the frontispiece represents. Not only is Hobbes’ decision to put forward a theory of a commonwealth that is both civil as well as ecclesiastical only a few years after the great religious Thirty Years’ War a bold one: Leviathan represents a new way of conceiving the relation between sovereign and citizen as it combines Christian political theory and aesthetics. Having its methodological point of departure especially in Giorgio Agamben, the article will develop the argument that Leviathan, in this regard, represents a political version of the Christian angelology. Leviathan becomes the “divine messenger” par excellence, who functions as temporal minister and administrator of God’s will and government. The central questions of the article therefore are: how and why does Hobbes’ Leviathan achieve his authority and power through theological ideas on power, and how decisive is the Bible in this regard? In other words, how is Hobbes’ Bible use political?

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Thomas Hobbes´ Leviathan

KW - Titelblad

KW - Æstetik

KW - Biopolitik

KW - Bibelbrug

KW - Det Gamle Testamente

KW - Thomas Hobbes

KW - Giorgio Agamben

M3 - Journal article

VL - Vol 2

JO - Akademeia

JF - Akademeia

SN - 1923-1504

IS - No 1

ER -