This thesis aspires to establish a detailed theoretical comparison between the thought of G. W. F. Hegel and that of Thomas Hobbes. It is my contention that the two thinkers have a common starting point on many fundamental problems of human practical life, such as the account of desire and self-consciousness, the role of passion and happiness in human agency, the phenomenon of right and the nature of the political sovereignty of the State. One of my central points will be the deep connection of Hegel’s practical thought with two points of the Hobbesian criticism of ancient ethics: namely, the refutation of the classical question of the good life as the basis of human conduct and association, and the superiority of art over nature. Hence, desire is described by both thinkers as a movement of individual self-affirmation and causality over the world, not as a teleological tension towards different kinds of goods; and the human will becomes, for both equally, the source of all practical, juridical and political normativity. Nonetheless, the account of these similarities will be preparatory to the analysis of the crucial differences between Hegel’s and Hobbes’ solutions. Whereas for Hobbes the limitation of the natural desire of man is the prerequisite for all order, Hegelian Bildung [education] is the mean of the rationalization of desire. In the last analysis, the desire of individuals is for Hegel a form of manifestation of the all-pervading impulse of reason to give itself presence and endurance in reality.