I argue that Thomas Hobbes presaged the current concerns with language in International Relations (IR) and Political Geography, and that he and these concerns present, perhaps unexpectedly, similar promises and problems. In spite of the views limiting Hobbes to materialism, naturalism, individualism, or separating his science and rhetoric, language was key for him. The humans construct their reason and society (notably, the state) in language, it also influences their extra-social interactions; and the humans are themselves constrained and, in a sense, created by language. Intellectuals are tied to the construction of social reality. These basic ideas are widely shared by the current views of language in IR. Both Hobbes and they can be seen as stressing collective freedom, pluralism and responsibility. But the analysis of Hobbes also draws attention to ontological, epistemological and ethical problems that he and the current theories share due to relativist conceptions of language and rationality.