Leviathan: or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil

Hobbes, Thomas

ISBN 10: 1539106977 / ISBN 13: 9781539106975

Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

About this Item

420 pages. 9.00x6.00x0.95 inches. This item is printed on demand.

Seller Inventory # zk1539106977

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Leviathan: or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1539106977
• ISBN 13: 9781539106975
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Brand New

About this title

Synopsis

Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil—commonly referred to as Leviathan—is a book written by Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) and published in 1651 (revised Latin edition 1668). Its name derives from the biblical Leviathan. 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. Leviathan ranks as a classic western work on statecraft comparable to Machiavelli's The Prince. Written during the English Civil War (1642–1651), Leviathan argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. Hobbes wrote that civil war and the brute situation of a state of nature ("the war of all against all") could only be avoided by strong, undivided government. An early edition of Leviathan was one of the over 60 books stolen from the National Library of Sweden in the 90s.