Hobbism

American  

[hob-iz-uhm] / ˈhɒb ɪz əm /

noun

1. the doctrines of, or those attributed to, Hobbes, especially the doctrine of absolute submission to a royal sovereign in order to avoid the anarchic disorder resulting from the uncontrolled competition of individual interests.

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Hobbism British  

/ ˈhɒbɪzəm /

noun

1. the mechanistic political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, which stresses the necessity for a powerful sovereign to control human beings

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Other Word Forms

• Hobbist
  noun
• Hobbistical
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Hobbism

First recorded in 1675–85; Hobb(es) + -ism

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Hobbism

It is not, however, in this, which is only the old Cyrenaic or Epicurean answer, that the distinctive point of Hobbism lies.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 7 "Equation" to "Ethics" by Various

Hobbism turned inside out,—rendered licentious and anarchical instead of constructive.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 7 "Equation" to "Ethics" by Various

His mind had long oscillated between Hobbism and Popery.

From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 1 by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay

Trenchard and Gordon, in their Independent Whig, No. 44, that libel on the clergy, accuse them of Atheism and Hobbism; while some divines as earnestly reject Hobbes as an Atheist!

From Calamities and Quarrels of Authors by Isaac Disraeli

From an ethical point of view Hobbism divides itself naturally into two parts, which by Hobbes’s peculiar political doctrines are combined into a coherent whole, but are not otherwise necessarily connected.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 7 "Equation" to "Ethics" by Various