1 Theorising Agency in International Relations In Hobbes's Wake ...

Symbol. Schmitt’s perspective is useful for casting the focus upon the Leviathan as a symbol, that is, as a
linguistic trope, and for operating the shift from considering the Leviathan as the symbol of a particular
political order bound up with sovereignty to the symbol of order, at the national and international
levels.
Schmitt’s concern, as per his subtitle, is with understanding the true meaning of this ‘strongest
and most powerful image’ in the ‘long history of political theories’; one, moreover, that, however ‘rich in
colorful images and symbols, icons and idols, paradigms and phantasms, emblems and allegories’ has
left many a political theorists pondering over this particular one (see also Brown 1980, Ball 1985,
Stillman 1995, Springborg 1996). Carl Schmitt alone however, to my knowledge, dedicates an entire
book to appraising it as a symbol, albeit without actually developing the concept. Schmitt (2008, 19)
sets out to record all the meanings of this ‘mythical totality’ by gleaning references to it, first in the text
itself, then in the broader historical context of the treatise’s writing. He finds only three mentions in the
text itself. He does not hide his disappointment: ‘the explanation is very brief and does not correspond
to the great expectation that a mythical blending of god and animal, animal and man, man and machine
evokes’ (Schmitt 2008, 20). Once he has exhausted all possible sources of meaning within and beyond
the text Schmitt concludes to the symbol’s failure; an astounding conclusion, given its deep resonance in
the history of political thought, Schmitt’s own motivations in trying to appraise its power. Schmitt’s
somewhat deflated conclusion appears, rather, to express his own unease in the face of profound
ambiguity in the ‘old myth’ that ultimately eludes his best efforts to pin down all its meanings.
The ambiguity and polysemy at work in this symbol, Schmitt senses, is intended by Hobbes;
uncertain though he remains as to how to tackle it. Schmitt’s approach, I suggest, actually leads him
astray from being able to grasp the function of the Leviathan in Hobbes’s political thought. I propose a
different way of appraising this mythical totality. Rather than wring the symbol for all its meanings,
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