Philosophy@UWS Research Seminar

Event Name
Philosophy@UWS Research Seminar
Date
22 April 2015
Time
03:30 pm - 05:00 pm
Location
Bankstown Campus

Address (Room): 3.G.27

Description

Democratic theory often makes appeal to the will of the people. But what exactly is this will? Individual humans in a society each have their own will; how and under what conditions can the multiple individual wills be combined to form a single collective will? In this paper, I interrogate the answer to these questions provided by Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes is a polemically anti-democratic thinker, but nonetheless I will argue that there are lessons in his analysis for contemporary democratic theory. First, a caution for those wishing to claim to speak in the voice of the people; and second, a caution for those hoping to find a spontaneous democratic society.

Speakers: Sandra Field

Web page: http://www.uws.edu.au/philosophy/seminars2015

Contact

Philosophy@uws.edu.au