The relationship of the conatus primus with the bellum omnium contra omnes

A reading of Hobbesian political geometry

Abstract

This contribution to the debate on the systematic nature of Hobbesian philosophy highlights two significant perspectives: ontological interpretations and ideological interpretations. The latter attribute systemic value based on ideological-political positions, thereby overlooking the importance of an incipient ontology in Hobbes’s thought. This article examines the relationship between the *conatus primus* (original impulse) and the *bellum omnium contra omnes* (war of all against all) in the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, proposing a "geometriopolitics" as a key to its systematization. In contrast to modern interpretations—which tend to decouple his political philosophy from his ontology—the author draws upon classic thinkers such as Spinoza, Hegel, Marx, and Darwin, all of whom integrated aspects of the Hobbesian system into their own theories without imposing an overarching, rigid systematization. It is noted that the *conatus primus*, as developed in *De Corpore*, represents a materialist ontology in which individuals strive for their own existence, while the "war of all against all"—present from his earliest works—expresses the conflict inherent to the human condition. "Geometriopolitics" emerges as a hierarchy of power in which individual *conatus* are organized dialectically, transitioning from the state of nature to the political state through the recognition of rights and the establishment of a sovereign. The conclusion emphasizes that contemporary, highly ideologized interpretations have obscured this relationship, whereas the classic thinkers offered more creative and less prejudiced readings, allowing for a better understanding of the enduring relevance of the Hobbesian dialectic between necessity, freedom, and power.