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Leftist Leviathan

Gold, Samuel Emory, gold
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1525351112377153

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Arts, University of Toledo, Philosophy.
This paper is a five-chapter exploration into the relationship between a Hobbesian notion of sovereignty, and the implementation of Marxism in the Soviet Union. The political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes has been most often interpreted through a particular reading of the German Carl Schmitt, which. as a result, has rendered Hobbesian philosophy synonymous with a strict, authoritarian nationalism like the Nazi party in Germany. However, simplifying the role of sovereign authority Nazism misses the strong parallels present between the relationship of the sovereign and the commonwealth, and the implementation of Marxism under Josef Stalin’s rule in the Soviet Union. This model, wherein the Soviet citizens have been removed from the political realm forms an analogous relationship to what is present under the Hobbesian social contract. This is not to say that Marxism can be read back to Hobbes, but, rather, that Stalin's leadership implemented a version of the social contract which inadvertently drew upon Hobbesian influence. Through an assembling of primary and secondary sources, this thesis aims to show that a left-leaning reading of Hobbes is not only possible, but has a real-world example to draw upon.
Benjamin Grazzini, PhD. (Committee Chair)
Ammon Allred, PhD (Committee Member)
Roberto Padilla, PhD (Committee Member)
100 p.
Philosophy
Hobbes; Marx; Marxism; Socialism; Foucault; Stalin; Sovereignty; Absolutism; Authoritarianism; Political Leftism; Liberalism

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Gold, gold, S. E. (2018). Leftist Leviathan [Master's thesis, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1525351112377153

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Gold, gold, Samuel. Leftist Leviathan. 2018. University of Toledo, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1525351112377153.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Gold, gold, Samuel. "Leftist Leviathan." Master's thesis, University of Toledo, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1525351112377153

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1525351112377153
2,405
© 2018, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Leftist Leviathan by Samuel Emory Gold gold is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.