Leviathan : Authoritative Texts, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism

“This new Norton Critical Edition of Hobbes’s Leviathan combines the full text of Hobbes’s masterpiece with a generous choice of background materials that allow the reader to put this central work in political philosophy into context. Included here are Hobbes’s own comments on his intellectual development, as well as reactions from his contemporaries and from later readers to his bold and still controversial views, ending with a wise and judicious selection from the vast current literature. This excellent volume will help both the student and the general reader to understand and appreciate Hobbes’s continued significance for political thought.” ―DANIEL GARBER, Princeton University

This Norton Critical Edition includes: 

• The complete text of Leviathan, one of the most important works of political philosophy ever written, carefully―and faithfully―edited for 21st-century readers. Spelling and punctuation have been thoughtfully modernized, and all archaic terms have been footnoted. The result is the most accessible edition of Leviathan available.
• Essential background material, including Pierre Bayle’s biographical assessment, Hobbes’s response to criticism of Leviathan, and a selection of key critiques.
• Six major critical interpretations by Kinch Hoekstra, Eleanor Curran, Teresa M. Bejan, Quentin Skinner, Arash Abizadeh, and Jane S. Jacquette.
• A select glossary of words, a select glossary of proper names, a bibliography, and a note on the text.

 

About the Series
Read by more than 12 million students over fifty-five years, Norton Critical Editions set the standard for apparatus that is right for undergraduate readers. The three-part format―annotated text, contexts, and criticism―helps students to better understand, analyze, and appreciate the literature, while opening a wide range of teaching possibilities for instructors. Whether in print or in digital format, Norton Critical Editions provide all the resources students need.

David Johnston teaches political philosophy at Columbia University, where he has served as Nell and Herbert M. Singer Professor of Contemporary Civilization and Joseph Straus Professor of Political Philosophy. He is the author of A Brief History of Justice, The Idea of a Liberal Theory, and The Rhetoric of Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes and the Politics of Cultural Transformation, and is the editor of a collection of readings entitled Equality and coeditor of Machiavelli on Liberty and Conflict.