The Bodily Foundations of Sovereignty: Hunger and Material Necessity in Hobbes’s Political Philosophy
Political Theory: An International Journal of Political Philosophy
Published online on July 12, 2026
Abstract
Political Theory, Ahead of Print.
This essay argues that hunger functions as one of the primary passions driving political association in Thomas Hobbes’s materialist political philosophy. Despite the extensive scholarly focus on fear and the social contract, the pivotal role of bodily ...
This essay argues that hunger functions as one of the primary passions driving political association in Thomas Hobbes’s materialist political philosophy. Despite the extensive scholarly focus on fear and the social contract, the pivotal role of bodily ...