Thomas Hobbes
1588 – 1679 English philosopher
The philosopher of the social contract and the all-powerful state.
- Religion
- Nominally Anglican but widely accused of atheism; his materialism left little room for spirit.
- Affiliations
- Tutor to noble families. No secret society.
Hobbes argued in Leviathan that without a strong sovereign, life would be a war of all against all, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. He grounded politics in a contract by which people trade freedom for security. His materialism and contract theory founded modern political philosophy.
Works in the library
- 1651 Leviathan
In the timeline
- 1651 Hobbes publishes Leviathan mentioned
- 1651 Hobbes' Leviathan and the Sovereign's Monopoly on Force mentioned