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đŸȘ” The Threshold

Hobbes's civility is a fragile, ever-in-progress pacified space built by contract, not brute protection.

Properties1
tagsja-picks, define, xref, definitional_content, primary_study, singleton, category/definitional-content

2 min read

Hobbes’s civility is a fragile, ever-in-progress pacified space built by contract, not brute protection.

Evidence

In this case, ‘civilized’ clearly denotes a process, once which for some ‘Nations’ is yet incomplete. 
 Most often, and not surprisingly, the adjective ‘civil’ applies to society, power, law, and government: ‘civil society’ is of course the one created by the social contract, the one that replaces the uncivil, inconvenient, and uncomfortable state of nature. Through this preponderant use of the adjective ‘civil,’ Hobbes establishes, in words at least, his ‘civil society,’ repeatedly reminds the reader of its foremost importance, and patiently elaborates an artiCDcial space created by men, which organizes and regulates living together, daily life, under the unforgiving watch of a sovereign, guarantor of security and, by extension, of prosperity. This paciCDed space is what allows one to enjoy life, it is also one that is ever in progress – a fragile construction to be built, rebuilt and preserved: civil status, political civility, in Hobbes, is what allows both socio-cultural civility – the courteousness of men in society mentioned earlier – and economic civility, or commerce. — , Stephanie B. Martens - Civilization and
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Categorization

  • DEFINE: Distinguishes Hobbes’s technical ‘civil’ (the contracted commonwealth space) from its modern sense of politeness.
  • XREF: Relevant to the reading purpose on solidarity formed through positive shared construction — Hobbes’s civic space is made by men, not by shared enemies. — connects to: Hobbes’ own model undermines the durable community he intended to found — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 384

Broader Connections

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