Hobbes and the Plague Doctors
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Description
The frontispiece to Hobbes’ Leviathan (1651) features two specially-garbed plague doctors standing together within the walls of the almost empty city. In conventional terms they might symbolize one of the sovereign’s greatest duties, or they may remain outside the body politic because they are hired-in only during the emergency. This chapter reflects from a different thought, that the itinerant plague doctors might be emblematic of transnational knowledge circulation, and located in the complex history of science-experts (and medical experts) in relation to formalized ruling power. It builds from Thucydides, Hobbes and Foucault to argue that the courage and special status of front-line health professionals, fearless also in speaking out against political pressures, might desirably be instantiated in bodies such as the World Health Organization, and can also be an inspiration for lawyers in troubling times.
Source Publication
Crisis Narratives in International Law
Source Editors/Authors
Makane Moïse Mbengue, Jean D'Aspremont
Publication Date
2022
Recommended Citation
Kingsbury, Benedict, "Hobbes and the Plague Doctors" (2022). Faculty Chapters. 966.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/966
