Has modern Western society lost its sense of honor? If so, can we find the reason for this loss? Laurie Johnson Bagby turns to the political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes for answers to these questions, finding in him the early modern "turning point for honor." She examines Hobbes's use of the word honor throughout his career and reveals in Hobbes's thought an evolving understanding of honor, at least in his analysis of politics and society. She also looks at Hobbes's life and times, especially the English Civil War, a cataclysmic event that solidified his rejection of honor as a socially and politically useful concept. Bagby analyzes key ideas in Hobbes's philosophy which shed further light on his conclusion that the desire for honor is dangerous and needs to be eliminated in favor of fear and self-interest. In the end, she questions whether the equality of fear in the state of nature is actually a better source of social and political obligation than honor. In rejecting any sense of obligation based upon earlier notions of natural superiors and inferiors, does Hobbesian and future liberal thought unnecessarily reject honor as a source of restraint in society that previously promoted protection of the weaker against the stronger?

"Bagby (Kansas State Univ.) offers a close textual reading of the meaning of the idea of honor in the work of Thomas Hobbes. Bagby does a good job in contextualizing Hobbes's thoughts on honor. Her reading is both sensitive and creative... Recommended." - CHOICE, November 2009

"These questions motivate Laurie M. Johnson Bagby's interesting inquiry into Hobbes' understandings of honor and their place in intellectual history...One of the strengths of this book is its reach throughout Hobbes's thought. Bagby has admirably scoured his works to offer a comprehensive account of honor.... Bagby raises such questions to inspire reflection and further research.... As intended, Bagby has inspired questions about the potential for honor in our culture. I hope that her work initiates research along the lines that she suggests. Hobbes, in her informative analysis, offers a helpful perspective for our deliberations." - The Review of Politics