Abstract

Hobbes’s contemporaries and some modern commentators draw attention to the distinctively paradoxical character of the philosopher’s writing. The chapter examines the role of paradox in Hobbes’s arguments and argues that the use of paradox constituted one of Hobbes’s most distinctive writing strategies. The chapter considers Hobbes’s discussion of paradox in its contemporaneous context, suggesting that Hobbes deliberately deployed paradox to exploit a connection between admiratio, or wonder, and curiosity. It is further suggested that Hobbes did so to motivate a particular form of transformative readerly engagement characteristic of his general approach.