Leviathan (Hobbes book)

Leviathan
Frontispiece of Leviathan by Abraham Bosse, with input from Hobbes
AuthorThomas Hobbes
LanguageEnglish, Latin (Hobbes produced a new version of Leviathan in Latin in 1668:[1] Leviathan, sive De materia, forma, & potestate civitatis ecclesiasticae et civilis.[2] Many passages in the Latin version differ from the English version.)[3]
GenrePolitical philosophy
Publication date
April 1651[4]
Publication placeEngland
ISBN978-1439297254
TextLeviathan at Wikisource

Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, commonly referred to as Leviathan, is a book written by Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) and published in 1651 (revised Latin edition 1668).[1][5][6] Its name derives from the biblical Leviathan. The work concerns the structure of society and legitimate government, and is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory.[7] Written during the English Civil War (1642–1651), it argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. Hobbes wrote that civil war and the brute situation of a state of nature ("the war of all against all") could be avoided only by a strong, undivided government.

  1. ^ a b Glen Newey, Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Hobbes and Leviathan, Routledge, 2008, p. 18.
  2. ^ "Leviathan, sive, de materia, forma, & potestate civitatis ecclesiasticae et civilis". 1668.
  3. ^ Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan – Oxford University Press Archived 31 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ Thomas, Hobbes (2006). Thomas Hobbes : Leviathan. Rogers, G. A. J.,, Schuhmann, Karl (A critical ed.). London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 9781441110985. OCLC 882503096.
  5. ^ Hilary Brown, Luise Gottsched the Translator, Camden House, 2012, p. 54.
  6. ^ It's in this edition that Hobbes coined the expression auctoritas non veritas facit legem, which means "authority, not truth, makes law": book 2, chapter 26, p. 133.
  7. ^ "Hobbes's Moral and Political Philosophy". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. 2018. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2009. (Retrieved 11 March 2009)

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