1 Theorising Agency in International Relations In Hobbes's Wake ...
1 Theorising Agency in International Relations In Hobbes's Wake ...
1 Theorising Agency in International Relations In Hobbes's Wake ...
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Symbol. Schmitt’s perspective is useful for cast<strong>in</strong>g the focus upon the Leviathan as a symbol, that is, as a<br />
l<strong>in</strong>guistic trope, and for operat<strong>in</strong>g the shift from consider<strong>in</strong>g the Leviathan as the symbol of a particular<br />
political order bound up with sovereignty to the symbol of order, at the national and <strong>in</strong>ternational<br />
levels.<br />
Schmitt’s concern, as per his subtitle, is with understand<strong>in</strong>g the true mean<strong>in</strong>g of this ‘strongest<br />
and most powerful image’ <strong>in</strong> the ‘long history of political theories’; one, moreover, that, however ‘rich <strong>in</strong><br />
colorful images and symbols, icons and idols, paradigms and phantasms, emblems and allegories’ has<br />
left many a political theorists ponder<strong>in</strong>g over this particular one (see also Brown 1980, Ball 1985,<br />
Stillman 1995, Spr<strong>in</strong>gborg 1996). Carl Schmitt alone however, to my knowledge, dedicates an entire<br />
book to apprais<strong>in</strong>g it as a symbol, albeit without actually develop<strong>in</strong>g the concept. Schmitt (2008, 19)<br />
sets out to record all the mean<strong>in</strong>gs of this ‘mythical totality’ by glean<strong>in</strong>g references to it, first <strong>in</strong> the text<br />
itself, then <strong>in</strong> the broader historical context of the treatise’s writ<strong>in</strong>g. He f<strong>in</strong>ds only three mentions <strong>in</strong> the<br />
text itself. He does not hide his disappo<strong>in</strong>tment: ‘the explanation is very brief and does not correspond<br />
to the great expectation that a mythical blend<strong>in</strong>g of god and animal, animal and man, man and mach<strong>in</strong>e<br />
evokes’ (Schmitt 2008, 20). Once he has exhausted all possible sources of mean<strong>in</strong>g with<strong>in</strong> and beyond<br />
the text Schmitt concludes to the symbol’s failure; an astound<strong>in</strong>g conclusion, given its deep resonance <strong>in</strong><br />
the history of political thought, Schmitt’s own motivations <strong>in</strong> try<strong>in</strong>g to appraise its power. Schmitt’s<br />
somewhat deflated conclusion appears, rather, to express his own unease <strong>in</strong> the face of profound<br />
ambiguity <strong>in</strong> the ‘old myth’ that ultimately eludes his best efforts to p<strong>in</strong> down all its mean<strong>in</strong>gs.<br />
The ambiguity and polysemy at work <strong>in</strong> this symbol, Schmitt senses, is <strong>in</strong>tended by Hobbes;<br />
uncerta<strong>in</strong> though he rema<strong>in</strong>s as to how to tackle it. Schmitt’s approach, I suggest, actually leads him<br />
astray from be<strong>in</strong>g able to grasp the function of the Leviathan <strong>in</strong> Hobbes’s political thought. I propose a<br />
different way of apprais<strong>in</strong>g this mythical totality. Rather than wr<strong>in</strong>g the symbol for all its mean<strong>in</strong>gs,<br />
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