The Oxford Illustrated History of Western Philosophy
Chapter 6: Political Philosophy by Anthony Quinton
With reference to Hobbes’ Leviathan, the author states: “….there are many aspects of Hobbes’ great construction which are open to criticism, which is made all the easier by its clarity and boldness.”
Later in the book the author comments on another philosopher that criticism is made more difficult by the text’s lack of clarity and boldness.
Anthony Quinton falls into the latter category, his writing lacking both clarity and boldness. I wonder if the author has inadvertently alerted us to his own true motivations………
…………in a competitive world, where every philosopher’s principal concern is to shoot down the opposition with devastating criticisms, there is an obvious advantage to be gained by falling into that same category. I cannot help but wonder, then, if Quinton’s lack of clarity and boldness arises less from an innate inarticulacy than from a desire to protect himself from the philosophical sharks that eagerly await each new publication.
This obviously has sad repercussions for the whole discipline of philosophy.
