Political Soundness. Hobbes’s and Burke’s Complementing Views on the State

Abstract There are important differences between some of the fundamental ideas and presumptions in Hobbes’ and Burke’s political philosophy. Someone who studies both thinkers may on that account be prompted to conclude that they are incompatible. I maintain that this is not the case, arguing that their positions in fact complement each other. Hobbes appears to present, from an amoral (so a morally neutral) perspective, a universal model of the state, while Burke takes the relevant circumstances into consideration. Their views on the state are compatible since they address different stages of development of a state.