About the "maximum evil" in the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes

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Roberto Cañas-Quirós

Abstract

This article analyzes what is for Thomas Hobbes the "maximum evil" or also called in Latin summum malum. Usually, moral philosophy throughout history before this British philosopher emphasized its opposite, the "highest good" (summum bonum). These pages examine the originality of Hobbesian proposals where the “highest good” is an unattainable


illusion due to the uninterrupted mutation of human desires. On the other hand, the maximum evil does exist, and it is not about natural death, even if there is pain, but about the awareness of the danger that it means to face a violent death, in conditions of war, abhorrent and calamitous.

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How to Cite
Cañas-QuirósR. (2021). About the "maximum evil" in the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. Acta Académica, 69(Noviembre), 161-180. Retrieved from http://201.196.25.14/index.php/actas/article/view/1330
Section
Acta Filosófica

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