Leviathan
A treatise in four parts: Of Man, Of Commonwealth, Of a Christian Commonwealth and Of the Kingdom of Darkness. Starting from sense, speech and the passions, Hobbes argues that without a common power life is a war of all against all, that people escape it by authorizing a sovereign, and that Scripture rightly read places the church under that sovereign.
Understanding the text
Written in Paris after the execution of Charles I and published in London in 1651 by Andrew Crooke, with the famous engraved title page of a crowned giant made of many small bodies. Hobbes later published a revised Latin version in Amsterdam in 1668, with an appendix answering charges of heresy.
Key points
- 01
The natural condition
Chapter 13 derives a condition of war from equality, competition, diffidence and glory, in which the life of man is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.
- 02
The artificial person
Chapters 16 and 17 explain how a multitude becomes one person when each member authorizes a representative to act in its name and bear its person.
- 03
The kingdom of darkness
The third and fourth parts read the Bible to deny that any church can rule independently of the civil sovereign, and treat demonology, scholastic philosophy and papal claims as sources of spiritual darkness.
Explore the ideas in depth
From war to covenant
Follow the argument of Leviathan from the natural condition of mankind to the authorization of a sovereign, and look for the point where the subject’s obligation ends.
Situating the text
Written in Paris after the execution of Charles I and published in London in 1651 by Andrew Crooke, with the famous engraved title page of a crowned giant made of many small bodies. Hobbes later published a revised Latin version in Amsterdam in 1668, with an appendix answering charges of heresy. A treatise in four parts: Of Man, Of Commonwealth, Of a Christian Commonwealth and Of the Kingdom of Darkness. Starting from sense, speech and the passions, Hobbes argues that without a common power life is a war of all against all, that people escape it by authorizing a sovereign, and that Scripture rightly read places the church under that sovereign.
Following the arguments
The natural condition : Chapter 13 derives a condition of war from equality, competition, diffidence and glory, in which the life of man is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. The artificial person : Chapters 16 and 17 explain how a multitude becomes one person when each member authorizes a representative to act in its name and bear its person. The kingdom of darkness : The third and fourth parts read the Bible to deny that any church can rule independently of the civil sovereign, and treat demonology, scholastic philosophy and papal claims as sources of spiritual darkness.
Continuing the reading
Read the Introduction and chapters 13 to 18, then chapter 21 on the liberty of subjects and the Review and Conclusion, to see how Hobbes binds obedience to protection. Written in Paris after the execution of Charles I and published in London in 1651 by Andrew Crooke, with the famous engraved title page of a crowned giant made of many small bodies. Hobbes later published a revised Latin version in Amsterdam in 1668, with an appendix answering charges of heresy.
Questions to carry into your reading
- Why does Hobbes think that equality, rather than inequality, leads people into war?
- According to chapter 21, what does a subject keep when authorizing the sovereign?
For Hobbes, absolute sovereignty is justified by the protection it provides; when that protection fails, the reason for obedience fails with it.
How to read it
Read the Introduction and chapters 13 to 18, then chapter 21 on the liberty of subjects and the Review and Conclusion, to see how Hobbes binds obedience to protection.
Editions & sources
Summaries and key points are original editorial interpretations. They accompany reading the work and do not replace an edition of the text. Editorial method →