This paper recounts my encounter with the ideological context of Hobbes’s system as a graduate student in political theory through the teaching and scholarship of Professor Johann Sommerville. This encounter made me recognize that political theorists should study not only systems of political philosophy but also their ideological contexts, whose primary components are not “languages” but ideas and arguments deployed in debates concerning issues of political legitimacy of a particular time. Specifically, I realized that incorporating ideological contexts into the study of political theory could render the quest for legitimate political orders in different ages and cultures accessible to modern readers of diverse backgrounds, enable a more accurate grasp of the originality of a philosophical system, and uncover new resources for political theorizing.

本文讲述了我作为一名政治理论研究生，通过约翰·萨默维尔教授的教学和学术与霍布斯体系的意识形态背景的接触。这次相遇使我认识到，政治理论家不仅应该研究政治哲学体系，还应该研究它们的意识形态背景，其主要成分不是“语言”，而是在有关特定时代政治合法性问题的辩论中部署的思想和论点。具体来说，我意识到，将意识形态语境纳入政治理论研究，可以使不同背景的现代读者能够理解不同时代和文化的合法政治秩序，更准确地把握哲学体系的独创性，并揭示政治理论的新资源。