Elements of Law, Natural and Political

Thomas Hobbes

Oct 2013 · Routledge

About this ebook

First Published in 1969. This collection of publications by Thomas Hobbes discusses the Civil Wars, written in the 1600s, deals in the controversial with a complete review of the Great Rebellion's events. Hobbes found attention from their first systematic political work, an early statement of his doctrines. These political, often philosophical works also track the deviation in his work as his devotion to religion increases.

About the author

Thomas Hobbes was born in Malmesbury, the son of a wayward country vicar. He was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and was supported during his long life by the wealthy Cavendish family, the Earls of Devonshire. Traveling widely, he met many of the leading intellectuals of the day, including Francis Bacon, Galileo Galilei, and Rene Descartes. As a philosopher and political theorist, Hobbes established---along with, but independently of, Descartes---early modern modes of thought in reaction to the scholasticism that characterized the seventeenth century. Because of his ideas, he was constantly in dispute with scientists and theologians, and many of his works were banned. His writings on psychology raised the possibility (later realized) that psychology could become a natural science, but his theory of politics is his most enduring achievement. In brief, his theory states that the problem of establishing order in society requires a sovereign to whom people owe loyalty and who in turn has duties toward his or her subjects. His prose masterpiece Leviathan (1651) is regarded as a major contribution to the theory of the state.