{"id":{"repo_id":"duquesne","oai_identifier":"oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1451"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/duquesne/oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1451","repository":{"repo_id":"duquesne","name":"Duquesne","base_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"The A Priori Nature of the Political: Democracy and Scientific Method in Thomas Hobbes","abstract":"My dissertation provides a treatment of Hobbes's politics in light of his conception of scientific method. The scholarship devoted to these two components of Hobbes's thought, that is his account of scientific method and his political philosophy, have largely existed in isolation from one another. Reading his politics through the lens of his account of scientific method, I bring two bodies of research on Hobbes together, and in so doing, offer a unique account of his political philosophy. When Hobbes's political philosophy is approached in the way I suggest, what one finds is not a simple defense of authoritarian absolutism, but instead a much more progressive political theory, one that is structured around the democratic power of \"the people\" as a constitutive political force.","abstract_html":"My dissertation provides a treatment of Hobbes's politics in light of his conception of scientific method. The scholarship devoted to these two components of Hobbes's thought, that is his account of scientific method and his political philosophy, have largely existed in isolation from one another. Reading his politics through the lens of his account of scientific method, I bring two bodies of research on Hobbes together, and in so doing, offer a unique account of his political philosophy. When Hobbes's political philosophy is approached in the way I suggest, what one finds is not a simple defense of authoritarian absolutism, but instead a much more progressive political theory, one that is structured around the democratic power of "the people" as a constitutive political force.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Craig, Patrick"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"PhD","degree_level":"Immediate Access","degree_discipline":"Philosophy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Daniel Selcer","Fred Evans","James Swindal","Douglas Jesseph"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:09:27Z","subjects":["Democracy","Multitude","Politics","Scientific Method","Thomas Hobbes"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/438","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Daniel Selcer","Fred Evans","James Swindal","Douglas Jesseph"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Craig, Patrick"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-08-03T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Immediate Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Democracy","Multitude","Politics","Scientific Method","Thomas Hobbes"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/438"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["My dissertation provides a treatment of Hobbes's politics in light of his conception of scientific method. The scholarship devoted to these two components of Hobbes's thought, that is his account of scientific method and his political philosophy, have largely existed in isolation from one another. Reading his politics through the lens of his account of scientific method, I bring two bodies of research on Hobbes together, and in so doing, offer a unique account of his political philosophy. When Hobbes's political philosophy is approached in the way I suggest, what one finds is not a simple defense of authoritarian absolutism, but instead a much more progressive political theory, one that is structured around the democratic power of \"the people\" as a constitutive political force."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The A Priori Nature of the Political: Democracy and Scientific Method in Thomas Hobbes"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Daniel Selcer","Fred Evans","James Swindal","Douglas Jesseph"],"dc:creator":["Craig, Patrick"],"dc:date.available":["2018-08-03T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["My dissertation provides a treatment of Hobbes's politics in light of his conception of scientific method. The scholarship devoted to these two components of Hobbes's thought, that is his account of scientific method and his political philosophy, have largely existed in isolation from one another. Reading his politics through the lens of his account of scientific method, I bring two bodies of research on Hobbes together, and in so doing, offer a unique account of his political philosophy. When Hobbes's political philosophy is approached in the way I suggest, what one finds is not a simple defense of authoritarian absolutism, but instead a much more progressive political theory, one that is structured around the democratic power of \"the people\" as a constitutive political force."],"dc:identifier":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/438"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Democracy","Multitude","Politics","Scientific Method","Thomas Hobbes"],"dc:title":["The A Priori Nature of the Political: Democracy and Scientific Method in Thomas Hobbes"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Philosophy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Immediate Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:09:27Z"}