The use and abuse of the past: Hobbes on the study of history

The use and abuse of the past: Hobbes on the study of history WILLIAM R. LUND I. Introduction Students of Hobbes have often argued that he regarded the discipline of history with some disdain. At least after an early humanist phase, which may or may not have influenced his later political theory, Hobbes turned to a rationalism in which history was rigidly distinguished from, and very un- favorably compared to, abstract reasoning.' He moved quickly to base his political arguments on philosophy as he recognized that history could not generate the kind of causal, certain and timeless knowledge necessary to