Hobbes makes power the fundamental passion behind all other ambitions

Evidence

Power, according to Hobbes, is the accumulated control that permits the individual to fix prices and regulate supply and demand in such a way that they contribute to his own advantage. The individual will consider his advantage in complete isolation, from the point of view of an absolute minority, so to speak; he will then realize that he can pursue and achieve his interest only with the help of some kind of majority. Therefore, if man is actually driven by nothing but his individual interests, desire for power must be the fundamental passion of man. It regulates the relations between individual and society, and all other ambitions as well, for riches, knowledge, and honor follow from it. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 381

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Arendt’s understanding of Hobbesian power as accumulated control that fixes prices and harnesses majorities to private advantage.