Overview
In Leviathan, Hobbes set out his doctrine of the foundation of states and legitimate governments - originating social contract theory. Leviathan was written during the English Civil War; much of the book is occupied with demonstrating the necessity of a strong central authority to avoid the evil of discord and civil war. Beginning from a mechanistic understanding of human beings and the passions, Hobbes postulates what life would be like without government, a condition which he calls the state of nature. In that state, each person would have a right, or license, to everything in the world. This, Hobbes argues, would lead to a "war of all against all" (bellum omnium contra omnes).
- | Author: Thomas Hobbes
- | Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
- | Publication Date: Nov 22, 2013
- | Number of Pages: 508 pages
- | Binding: Paperback or Softback
- | ISBN-10: 1494240815
- | ISBN-13: 9781494240813
