Thomas Hobbes published Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil in April 1651. Written during the turmoil of the English Civil War (1642–1651), the book is one of the earliest and most influential works of social contract theory. It argues that to escape a brutal state of nature, people must surrender their rights to an absolute sovereign. For readers interested in political philosophy, the Leviathan book by thomas hobbes remains a foundational text that continues to spark debate about authority, freedom, and the structure of government.
Overview of The Leviathan Book by Thomas Hobbes
Leviathan is divided into four parts: “Of Man,” “Of Commonwealth,” “Of a Christian Commonwealth,” and “Of the Kingdome of Darknesse.” Hobbes builds his argument step by step, starting with human psychology and moving to the creation of civil society. The book’s famous frontispiece, created by Abraham Bosse with input from Hobbes, shows a giant crowned figure made up of tiny subjects, holding a sword and a crozier. That image captures the book’s central idea: the sovereign derives power from the consent of the people yet rules with absolute authority.
The full title itself reveals the scope of the work. Hobbes was not only writing about politics; he was addressing the relationship between civil and ecclesiastical power. The “Ecclesiasticall and Civil” part signals his intention to challenge the authority of the church in matters of state. This made the book controversial from the moment it appeared.
The State of Nature and the Social Contract
Hobbes begins Leviathan by describing life without government. He calls this condition the state of nature, and his description is famously bleak. In the state of nature, there is “no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Without a common power to keep everyone in awe, human beings live in a war of all against all.
To escape this condition, people enter into a social contract. They agree to give up their natural right to all things and to submit to a sovereign who will enforce peace and order. Hobbes argues that this sovereign must be absolute. That is, the sovereign cannot be bound by the contract because the sovereign is not a party to it. The people covenant among themselves to obey the sovereign, but the sovereign retains full authority to rule as necessary to maintain peace.
This argument is why Leviathan is often associated with support for monarchy or dictatorship. However, Hobbes was not necessarily advocating for a specific form of government; he believed that any government that could effectively maintain order was better than the chaos of the state of nature. The key point is that the social contract creates a commonwealth, which Hobbes calls Leviathan.
Publication History and Early Reception
The book was published in April 1651, though some sources list January 1, 1651, as an approximate date. It was written in English and Latin, reflecting Hobbes’s ambition to reach both a local and a European audience. The work was immediately controversial. Upon publication, it was publicly burnt for sedition. Many contemporaries saw Hobbes’s arguments as a threat to religious authority and traditional morality.
Despite the public condemnation, Leviathan circulated widely and influenced political thought across Europe. Over time, it became a cornerstone of modern political philosophy. The fact that it was written during the English Civil War shaped Hobbes’s pessimism about human nature and his insistence on strong central authority. Readers today can still feel the urgency of a man who lived through violent upheaval and desperately wanted to prevent it from happening again.
The Meaning of the Title
The word “Leviathan” comes from the Hebrew Bible, specifically the Book of Job, where it describes a fearsome sea serpent. Hobbes chose that name deliberately. He writes in the introduction that the commonwealth is “an Artificial Man; though of greater stature and strength than the Natural, for whose protection and defence it was intended.” The Leviathan is the artificial person created by the social contract: a mortal god to which we owe our peace and security.
By using a biblical monster as his metaphor, Hobbes emphasized both the power and the terror of the sovereign. The Leviathan is necessary for order, but it is also something to be feared. That tension runs throughout the book and has kept scholars debating its meaning for centuries.
Modern Editions and Availability
Readers today have many ways to access Leviathan. The full text of the 1651 edition is freely available online through Project Gutenberg. For those who prefer a scholarly edition, Yale University Press published a version in 2010 edited by Ian Shapiro, which includes interpretive essays that help contextualize the work.
When it comes to digital copies, the Kindle edition is available for $2.99, and the paperback edition costs $9.99. These editions make it easy for students and curious readers to own a copy without spending a great deal of money. The text itself is challenging because of its 17th-century prose and dense philosophical arguments, but the ideas are presented with remarkable clarity for the time.
Why Read Leviathan Today?
Leviathan is not a light read, but it rewards careful study. Its ideas about the social contract, the state of nature, and the necessity of government authority are embedded in modern political discourse. Debates about the size and power of government, the limits of individual freedom during emergencies, and the role of religion in public life all echo arguments that Hobbes made more than 350 years ago.
For anyone trying to understand the foundations of Western political thought, Leviathan is essential. It challenges readers to think about why we obey laws, what we sacrifice for security, and whether absolute rule can ever be justified. Those questions are as relevant now as they were in 1651.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan about in simple terms?
In simple terms, Leviathan argues that without government, life would be a constant state of war and fear. To avoid that, people agree to give up some freedoms and submit to an absolute ruler who can keep the peace. The book explains why this agreement, called the social contract, is necessary for a stable society.
Why is Leviathan considered an important book?
Leviathan is one of the earliest and most influential works of social contract theory. It laid the groundwork for modern political philosophy by framing government as a human creation, not a divine one. Its ideas about the state of nature, sovereignty, and the right of self-preservation influenced later thinkers such as John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Did Hobbes believe in a social contract?
Yes, Hobbes is one of the first philosophers to articulate a clear theory of the social contract. He believed that individuals consent to be governed in exchange for protection and order. Unlike later theorists, however, he argued that the contract is between subjects, not between subjects and the sovereign. The sovereign is not bound by the contract.
Is Leviathan a difficult book to read?
The language of Leviathan can be challenging for modern readers because it uses 17th-century English and complex sentences. However, Hobbes wrote with a logical structure that rewards patience. Many readers find it helpful to use a modern edition with explanatory notes, such as the Yale University Press edition edited by Ian Shapiro.
Was Leviathan banned or burned?
Yes, upon publication in 1651, Leviathan was publicly burnt for sedition. Authorities considered its arguments dangerous to both church and state. Despite that condemnation, the book survived and gradually became recognized as a classic of political thought. Its controversial reception is part of what makes its history so fascinating.
