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Leviathan

Leviathan
Thomas Hobbes
1651

Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan presents one of the most influential images of why government exists. Hobbes argued that a state of nature (an environment without a government imposing order) would be "the war of all against all" and life in such an environment would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." He argued that humans formed government out of a desire for peace, and covenant away some of their rights to secure that peace. He argued that the sovereign created by that social contract should be absolute and cannot be modified; he favored a strong central government and denied any right of the people to change the form of government. Hobbes' work was quoted by Locke and Harrington, and known by the American Founders.

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Library Topic: Human Nature: A Conservative, Classical Liberal & Libertarian View
Library Topic: Pre-American Revolution Political Thought
Library Topic: Myth of the Noble Savage
Library Topic: Socialism
Library Topic: Social Justice
Library Topic: The Idea of Self-Government
Library Topic: What is Citizenship?
Library Topic: What is Justice?
Library Topic: What is Property?
Library Topic: What is Natural Law?
Library Topic: What is Liberty?
Library Topic: What is Prudence?
Library Topic: Secularism

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