Description

Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

The philosopher Thomas Hobbes understood the devastation caused by the English Civil War and was determined to construct a blueprint for a peaceful society. He began his task by trying to explain the nature of human beings, the state and civilisation. Morality, he considered, was a physical, not a spiritual attribute, proceeding from our sense of self preservation. Anarchy decreases our chances of survival and to avoid this, he explains, we must give up a portion of our freedom to a ruling authority, be it a sovereign or Commonwealth (the Leviathan of the title). The sovereign’s power stems from this self-interested agreement: while his subject cannot overthrow him, he has no divine right.
It is no surprise that with such arguments Hobbes made enemies on both sides of the Civil War. The Commonwealth objected to his assertion that benign monarchy was the best form of government, while royalists denounced Hobbes as a revolutionary. Hobbes’s conviction that religious power was subordinate to civil authority infuriated Puritans and Catholics alike, both of whom labelled him an atheist. His work was lauded and condemned throughout Europe, and its influence has echoed down the centuries. Published in 1651, Leviathan is the foundation stone on which modern political philosophy is built: the concept of a social contract is drawn from it, while Hobbes’s assertion that loss of liberty is a price worth paying for peace has aroused new applications and refutations in every generation.

Features;

• Folio Society First Impression
• Publisher Folio Society, London; 2012
• Bound in pale-green buckram, 592 pp
• With black & white illustrations
• Size 250 x 160mm, 1.6kg

Condition: Brand New – Still In Original Unopened Cellophane Wrap

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