Hobbes and the tragedy of language

Abstract

There is a tragic dimension in Hobbes’ thinking, and an important partof that tragedy concerns to words and their meanings. We will try to show itcomparing Hobbes’ treatment on the problem of language with the one that canbe found in a major work of Elizabethan literature: Shakespeare’s Hamlet, wherethat “language tragedy” appears by means of a lot of very famous jokes. That willmake us consider the relationship between tragedy and comedy, as well as the wayin which Hobbes’ works limit and get into conversation with both.