Most Popular Books by Thomas Hobbes

''He that is to govern a whole Nation, must read inhimself, not this, or that particular man; but Man-kind.'' Thomas Hobbes''s Leviathanis not just one of the greatest philosophicaltexts in the English language; it is one of the most important works in thehistory of Western political thought. Almost every major tradition in thecenturies after Hobbes - from radical democracy to authoritarianism - hasbeen influenced by its arguments. Written in exile in a period of dramaticdevelopments - civil war and regicide - Leviathanis in some ways theproduct of its own special circumstances. And yet, at the same time,it deals with fundamental issues that matter to all of us today: the natureand purpose of the state, the relation between human nature and politics,the idea of natural rights, the justification of authority, the concept ofrepresentation, the nature of sovereignty, the limits of obedience, andthe relationship between religious obligations and human ones. This new edition offers a definitive text drawn from more than twentyyears of research by Noel Malcolm, including, in English translation, allthe most significant revisions made in Hobbes''s later Latin translation of Leviathan, as well as extensive explanatory notes that elucidate Hobbes''slanguage and identify the many Biblical, classical, and other allusionsthat are scattered through his text.

Leviathan ranks as a classic work on statecraft comparable to Machiavelli''s The Prince. It concerns the structure of society and legitimate government, and is one of the most influential examples of social contract theory.

Behemoth, or The Long Parliament is essential to any reader interested in the historical context of the thought of Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679). In De Cive (1642) and Leviathan (1651), the great political philosopher had developed an analytical framework for discussing sedition, rebellion, and the breakdown of authority. Behemoth, completed around 1668 and not published until after Hobbe''s death, represents the systematic application of this framework to the English Civil War. In his insightful and substantial Introduction, Stephen Holmes examines the major themes and implications of Behemoth in Hobbes''s system of thought. Holmes notes that a fresh consideration of Behemoth dispels persistent misreadings of Hobbes, including the idea that man is motivated solely by a desire for self-preservation. Behemoth, which is cast as a series of dialogues between a teacher and his pupil, locates the principal cause of the Civil War less in economic interests than in the stubborn irrationality of key actors. It also shows more vividly than any of Hobbe''s other works the importance of religion in his theories of human nature and behavior.

Leviat�n o La materia, forma y poder de una rep�blica eclesi�stica y civil, com�nmente llamado Leviat�n (en ingl�s Leviathan), es el libro m�s conocido del fil�sofo pol�tico ingl�s Thomas Hobbes, publicado en 1651. El t�tulo del libro hace referencia al monstruo b�blico Leviat�n, que posee un poder descomunal ("Nadie hay tan osado que lo despierte. De su grandeza tienen temor los fuertes. No hay sobre la Tierra quien se le parezca, animal hecho exento de temor. Menosprecia toda cosa alta; es rey sobre todos los soberbios). En este libro, Hobbes establece su doctrina de derecho moderno como la base de las sociedades y de los gobiernos leg�timos, puede entenderse como una justificaci�n filos�fica de la eliminaci�n del Estado absoluto, a la vez que como la proposici�n te�rica del contrato social y autoritarismo estatal.

Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan is the greatest work of political philosophy in English and the first great work of philosophy in English. Beginning with premises that were sometimes controversial, such as that every human action is caused by the agent’s desire for his own good, Hobbes derived shocking conclusions, such as that the civil government enjoys absolute control over its citizens and that the sovereign has the right to determine which religion is to be practiced in a commonwealth. Hobbes’s contemporaries recognized the power of arguments in Leviathan and many of them wrote responses to it; selections by John Bramhall, Robert Filmer, Edward Hyde, George Lawson, William Lucy, Samuel Pufendorf, and Thomas Tenison are included in this edition. This revised Broadview Edition of Hobbes’s classic work of political philosophy includes the full text of Part I (Of Man), Part II (Of Commonwealth), and the Review and Conclusion. The appendices, which set the work in its historical context, include a rich selection of contemporary responses to Leviathan. Also included are an introduction, explanatory notes, and a chronology of Hobbes’s life.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English philosopher considered one of the founders of modern political philosophy. His most famous work is Leviathan (1651), where he laid the foundations of contractualist theory, which had a significant influence on the development of Western political philosophy. Leviathan, as it is commonly known, is undoubtedly the most important and groundbreaking work of the 17th-century English philosopher, politician, and thinker Thomas Hobbes. Referencing and writing with splendid mastery, the author invokes the most feared biblical monster to explain and justify the existence of an absolutist State that subjugates its citizens. Written in 1651, his work has been a great inspiration in political sciences and, paradoxically, in the evolution of social law.

De Cive (On the Citizen) is the first full exposition of the political thought of Thomas Hobbes, the greatest English political philosopher of all time. Professors Tuck and Silverthorne have undertaken the first complete translation since 1651, a rendition long thought (in error) to be at least sanctioned by Hobbes himself. On the Citizen is written in a clear, straightforward, expository style, offering students a more digestible account of Hobbes'' political thought than even Leviathan itself. This new translation is itself a very significant scholarly event.