Interpreting Hobbes’s Moral Theory: Rightness, Goodness, Virtue, and Responsibility

The paper argues that the moral philosophy of Thomas Hobbes is unified by a complex conception of reason that imposes consistency norms of both rationality and reasonableness.  Hobbes’s conceptions of rightness as reciprocity, and moral goodness as sociability belong to an original and attractive moral theory that is neither teleological nor classically deontological, nor as interpreters have variously argued, subjectivist, contractarian, egoist, or dependent on divine command.

Keywords:

Hobbes , Rightness , reciprocity , moral goodness , Sociability