Thomas Hobbes Books

A stable society cannot be built on comforting illusions about human goodness. Hobbes begins with a provocative claim: if we want to understand government, we must first understand the human being. For him, people are not primarily guided by divine purpose or natural sociability, but by motion, appe...

From Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil

Peace feels natural only after institutions have made it ordinary. Hobbes’s most famous argument is his description of the state of nature: a condition in which no common power exists to keep people in awe. In that situation, each person retains a right to do whatever seems necessary for survival. B...

From Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil

Human beings are dangerous, but they are not doomed. Hobbes argues that reason can identify certain “laws of nature,” practical rules that show people how to escape destructive conflict. The first and most basic law is to seek peace when it can be had. The second follows from it: be willing, when ot...

From Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil

A government, in Hobbes’s view, is not a natural organism growing out of ancient custom; it is an artificial construction made by human agreement. The social contract is the mechanism by which scattered individuals become a people. Each person authorizes a sovereign—whether one ruler or an assembly—...

From Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil

Divided authority sounds balanced, but Hobbes believes it often invites conflict. Once a commonwealth is formed, the sovereign must possess sufficient and undivided power to preserve peace. That includes the authority to make laws, judge disputes, decide on war and peace, appoint officials, reward a...

From Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil

Freedom is not the absence of all restraint; often it exists because restraint has been organized. Hobbes defines liberty in a strikingly physical way: the absence of external impediments to motion. In political life, this means subjects are free where the law is silent. Civil law does not eliminate...

From Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil