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Leviathan
Sign in to saveAlso known as Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil
book by Thomas Hobbes
"Leviathan" is a political philosophy book written by Thomas Hobbes in the 17th century that argues people naturally live in conflict and need a powerful central authority to maintain peace and order. It matters because it fundamentally shaped modern thinking about government, power, and why societies need rules and leaders to function.
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Book · Open Library
- Author
- Thomas Hobbes
- First published
- 1651
- Editions
- 99
- Subjects
- Political science, The State, Early works to 1800, Sciences politiques, État, Ouvrages avant 1800, Nonfiction, Politics
via Open Library
Wikidata facts
- Read free · Project Gutenberg
- #3207
- Image
- Leviathan frontispiece cropped British Library.jpg
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- Leviathan (Thomas Hobbes)
- publication date
- 1651-00-00
- title
- Leviathan
- subtitle
- or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil
via Wikidata · CC0
~32 min read
Article
Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, commonly referred to as Leviathan, is a work of social and political theory by the English empiricist philosopher and political theorist Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), published in 1651 (revised Latin edition 1668). Its name derives from the chaotic Leviathan sea serpent of the Hebrew Bible and earlier mythologies.
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.