Reviews for Holding one's time in thought

The average rating for Holding one's time in thought based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-05-17 00:00:00 Greg Jones The title is a bit misleading as there is more of a focus on analyzing Hobbes' arguments in terms of game theory than giving an account of the social contract tradition following him. If you like game theoretic arguments, that's fine. It was a bit more than I wanted though it was interesting to see it applied in Hobbes' case. Overall, Hampton persuasively argues that Hobbes' "geometric" argument for establishing a Leviathan fails. In the chapter "Can Hobbe's Argument Be Salvaged," the notion that creating a soveriegn might involve a "conversion" process in which people "adopt the sovereign's reason as one's standard for evaluation action." At least what I thought was a fascinating line of reasoning, would for example, have people exchange their expected-utility calculations for the sovereign's. Hampton writes that this would require that private judgement be destroyed in order to ensure the commonwealth's survival, and thus such a conversion would not be rational.

Review # 2 was written on 2021-01-29 00:00:00 Karl Yu This hefty tome has given me a broader perspective of some of the most influential thinkers throughout the ages. Besides showing me gaps in my understanding of political philosophy, and kindling a greater thirst for knowledge, Strauss' History provides an overarching perspective of intellectual history. It traces modern thought to it's roots, and opens up an invaluable conversation with the past. Thanks in part to this book, the present makes more sense.