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Leviathan
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Leviathan (1651) (edit title/settings)

or, The Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiastical and Civil

by Thomas Hobbes (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

A cornerstone of modern western philosophy, addressing the role of man in government, society and religion In 1651, Hobbes published his work about the relationship between the government and the individual. More than four centuries old, this brilliant yet ruthless book analyzes not only the... read more

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Leviathan rigorously argues that civil peace and social unity are best achieved by the establishment of a commonwealth through social contract. Hobbes's ideal commonwealth is ruled by a sovereign power responsible for protecting the security of the commonwealth and granted absolute authority... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Leviathan rigorously argues that civil peace and social unity are best achieved by the establishment of a commonwealth through social contract. Hobbes's ideal commonwealth is ruled by a sovereign power responsible for protecting the security of the commonwealth and granted absolute authority to ensure the common defense. In his introduction, Hobbes describes this commonwealth as an "artificial person" and as a body politic that mimics the human body. The frontispiece to the first edition ofLeviathan, which Hobbes helped design, portrays the commonwealth as a gigantic human form built out of the bodies of its citizens, the sovereign as its head. Hobbes calls this figure the "Leviathan," a word derived from the Hebrew for "sea monster" and the name of a monstrous sea creature appearing in the Bible; the image constitutes the definitive metaphor for Hobbes's perfect government. His text attempts to prove the necessity of the Leviathan for preserving peace and preventing civil war.
Leviathan is divided into four books: "Of Man," "Of Common-wealth," "Of a Christian Common-wealth," and "Of the Kingdome of Darknesse." Book I contains the philosophical framework for the entire text, while the remaining books simply extend and elaborate the arguments presented in the initial chapters. Consequently, Book I is given the most attention in the detailed summaries that follow. Hobbes begins his text by considering the elementary motions of matter, arguing that every aspect of human nature can be deduced from materialist principles. Hobbes depicts the natural condition of mankind--known as the state of nature--as inherently violent and awash with fear. The state of nature is the "war of every man against every man," in which people constantly seek to destroy one another. This state is so horrible that human beings naturally seek peace, and the best way to achieve peace is to construct the Leviathan through social contract.
Book II details the process of erecting the Leviathan, outlines the rights of sovereigns and subjects, and imagines the legislative and civil mechanics of the commonwealth. Book III concerns the compatibility of Christian doctrine with Hobbesian philosophy and the religious system of the Leviathan. Book IV engages in debunking false religious beliefs and arguing that the political implementation of the Leviathanic state is necessary to achieve a secure Christian commonwealth.
Hobbes's philosophical method in Leviathan is modeled after a geometric proof, founded upon first principles and established definitions, and in which each step of argument makes conclusions based upon the previous step. Hobbes decided to create a philosophical method similar to the geometric proof after meeting Galileo on his extended travels in Europe during the 1630s. Observing that the conclusions derived by geometry are indisputable because each of constituent steps is indisputable in itself, Hobbes attempted to work out a similarly irrefutable philosophy in his writing of Leviathan.

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First Sentence edit see section history

Nature (the Art whereby God hath made and governes the World) is by the Art of man, as in many other things, so in this also imitated, that it can make an Artificial Animal.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Epistle Dedicatory
The Contents of the Chapters
The Introduction

Part I: Of Man
Part II: Of Common-wealth
Part III: Of a Christian Common-wealth
Part IV: Of the Kingdome of Darknesse
A Review, and Conclusion

Glossary edit see section history

  • Natural Philosophy: Natural philosophy is the study of nature and the physical universe, and was the intellectual endeavor that eventually led to the historical development of modern science. Natural philosophers such as Francis Bacon and Robert Boyle believed that natural philosophy should derive inductively the workings of nature from natural history. Hobbes believed that natural philosophy should derive deductively the workings of nature from established first principles.
  • Plenum: Hobbes used the term "plenum" to refer to his conception of the universe; according to this conception, the universe is wholly material in nature, making possible the condition of a vacuum in space. The assumption that the universe is a plenum is an important aspect of Hobbes's materialism.
  • Sovereign: The person, or group of persons, endowed with sovereignty by the social contract. The sovereign is the head of the Leviathan, the maker of laws, the judge of first principles, the foundation of all knowledge, and the defender of civil peace.
  • Sovereignty: Supreme authority over a commonwealth. Sovereignty is owed complete obedience by its subjects. Hobbes describes sovereignty as the soul of the Leviathan.
  • State of Nature: The "natural condition of mankind" is what would exist if there were no government, no civilization, no laws, and no common power to restrain human nature. The state of nature is a "war of all against all," in which human beings constantly seek to destroy each other in an incessant pursuit for power. Life in the state of nature is "nasty, brutish and short."
  • Commonwealth: A multitude of people who together consent to a sovereign authority, established by contract to have absolute power over them all, for the purpose of providing peace and common defense.
  • Contract: Also called "covenant" or "social contract," contract is the act of giving up certain natural rights and transferring them to someone else, on the condition that everyone else involved in making the contract also simultaneously gives up their rights. People agreeing to the contract retain only those rights over others that they are content for everyone else to retain over them.
  • First Principles: The fundamental and irreducible facts of nature that are established by philosophical definition and upon which philosophical arguments may be built. According to Hobbes, first principles are not discovered by observation or experiment but are decided by philosophical debate and social consent.
  • Law of Nature: A general rule discovered by reason that forbids a person from doing anything destructive to her own life and gives her the right of self-preservation. The laws of nature state that human beings must strive for peace, which is best achieved by contract.
  • Leviathan: A metaphor for the state, the Leviathan is described as an artificial person whose body is made up of all the bodies of its citizens, who are the literal members of the Leviathan's body. The head of the Leviathan is the sovereign. The Leviathan is constructed through contract by people in the state of nature in order to escape the horrors of this natural condition. The power of the Leviathan protects them from the abuses of one another.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in William H. Gass’s Fifty Literary Pillars. (community list)
This book is in LMU Anglistik Syllabus. (authoritative list)
This book is in Penguin Classics. (edition-based publisher list)
This is book 41 of 96 in The Art of Manliness' Essential Man’s Library. (authoritative list)

Preceded by East of Eden, and followed by The Thin Red Line.

This is book 44 of 96 in Wikipedia's 100 most influential books ever written. (authoritative list)

Preceded by Discourse on Method, and followed by Philosophical Works of Leibnitz.

This is book 33 of 96 in Newsweek's Top 100 Books: The Meta-List. (authoritative list)

Preceded by The Confessions of St. Augustine, and followed by History of the Peloponnesian War.

This book is in Oxford PPE UA Amp P Political Economy. (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Thomas Hobbes (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Add the publisher.
Country: England
Publication Date: 1651
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: Add the page count.

Classification edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Social Contract
  • A Treatise of Human Nature
  • Politics: A Treatise on Government
  • Second Treatise of Government and a Letter Concerning Toleration
  • The Critique of Practical Reason

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history

   
  • Uncommon Ground
  • The Information

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