Leviathan: With Selected Variants from the Latin Edition of 1668 | 
 enlarge | Author: Thomas Hobbes
Creator: Edwin Curley
Publisher: Hackett Pub Co Inc
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 82085
Media: Paperback
Pages: 584
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.5
ISBN: 0872201775
Dewey Decimal Number: 320.1
EAN: 9780872201774
ASIN: 0872201775
Publication Date: March 1994
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Condition: Used stickers on back and spine.Cover shows some edge wear, creasing and rubbing. Light soiling on sides of book.Some highlighting is present.Otherwise, pages are clean and unmarked.
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Product Description
This new edition of Hobbe's masterpiece is uniquely suited to meet the needs of both student and scholar. It offers a brilliant introduction by Edwin Curley, modernised spelling and punctuation of the text, and a key annotative feature found in no other edition: the inclusion, along with historical and interpretive notes, of the most significant variants between the English version of 1651 and the Latin version of 1668. A glossary of seventeenth century English terms and indexes of persons, subjects, and scriptural passages help make this the most thoughtfully conceived edition of Leviathan available.
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Excellent edition August 12, 2006
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
There are lots of editions of Leviathan around, so why buy this one? The things the editor, Ed Curely, has done to make this edition accessible yet scholarly, like:
1. Updated spelling and punctuation. Although I personally miss Hobbes' original spelling (see the Penguin edition for that), as a teacher I appreciate Ed's making it easier for beginners to read Hobbes' words.
2. Index. Most editions do not have one.
3. Glossary. Hobbes used many terms that are now archaic, and Ed's brief but clear glossary helps clarify the text.
4. Ed's Introduction. Curley is one of the most careful and knowledgeable commentators out there, and he briefly but expertly introduces some of the major themes of the book.
5. Latin variants. Hobbes wrote Leviathan in English and in Latin, and there are some interesting differences between the two versions. Ed presents many of these in the footnotes, plus he includes English translations of the Appendices of the Latin version.
The First Modern Political Philosopher August 8, 2006
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) wrote "Leviathan" in 1651, it was his most important philosophical work. I think you should know something of Hobbes to understand how his thinking was influenced by his experiences. He was born 2 months prematurely on the day the Spanish Armada approaches the English coast. His mother's fear of invasion caused the premature birth. Hobbes remarked late in life, "his mother brought forth twins-myself and fear." Fear seems to be Hobbes life long companion and the key passion in his political system, which uses human passions as its foundation. He was a child prodigy reading Latin and Greek at the age of six years old. At fifteen, he entered Oxford University and hated his educational experience there. He thought the curriculum was too immersed in the ancient Greek philosophers like Aristotle. He called them "erroneous doctrines," and throughout his life he railed against English universities for there stodgy curriculum.
At the age of 22, he graduates and takes a job to tutor the son of the Earl of Devonshire. It gives him the opportunity to travel throughout Europe where he meets with Galileo in Florence and Descartes in Paris. Descartes calls Hobbes the greatest political philosopher of his day. During the British civil war, Hobbes flees to Paris because he is a well-known monarchist sympathizer. In 1651, he publishes his monumental work "Leviathan." He returns to England, submits to Cromwell's government, and withdraws from politics. He is on friendly terms with Charles II when the Stuart's are restored to the throne.
Hobbes philosophy is "materialistic"; he is greatly influenced by Galileo's mechanistic approach to science, and Euclidian geometry. His ambition was to explain all phenomena, man, and government with mathematical precision. In "Leviathan," he explains human conduct is a product of human passions. The most dominant passions are fear of violent death and desire for power, both are manifestations of man's most basic impulse, "self preservation." Hobbes asserts that the basic impulse is the right of the individual; he calls it a "natural right." All men process this natural right equally. This theory leads Hobbes to believe man's natural state to be one of constant conflict with each other. This leads him to write the following quote he is most known for: "men's lives are solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." So as not to have to live in constant state of fear or conflict, men make a contract for protection with the state. Hobbes believes that the best state is one led by a single sovereign whose power must be unrestricted with all three branches of government devolving to him. A single sovereign who has absolute power and cannot be replaced by the people.
His political writing had immediate influence in the world and influences other philosophers like Spinoza, Hutcheson, Locke, and Hume. Hobbes is the first man to write about political philosophy in such methodical terms. He is an excellent writer and his theories are easy to understand by the laymen. As a graduate student of political philosophy, I recommend if you have an interest in politics, philosophy, or government then you must start with reading Hobbes "Leviathan."
Greatest Work of Philosophy in English June 11, 2005
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
This is one of the few books in western thought that cannot recieve enough praise. It is all at the same time a compilation of classical and medieval thought, a biting commentary and critique of 17th century Europe (England in particular), an exploration of philosophy as science, and to top it all off the first truly modern work of political philosophy. This is one of those works that anyone who truly wants to call themselves educated must read, whether their focus of studies is philosophy, politics, literature, science or even mathematics.
The fundamental nature of this work is to construct a reasoned materialistic account of human behavior starting from basic definitions and postulates (very similar to geometry). From these basic principles Hobbes constructs an account of human physchology based on human desires which then culminates in man's need to leave the natural state of the world into the constructed society, which Hobbes calls the leviathan. I cannot even attempt to give a summation of the steps of Hobbes's argument here that would do him justice, but suffice it to say that Hobbes's conclusion is that in order to be happy and safe man must give up his rights to a strong soveriegn. This is a conclusion that may not look modern or attractive at all to most readers, but Hobbes's reasonong is so clear and detailed that it forces the reader to, if not agree with all of his principles, at least take them very seriously. This is one of those books that forces one to reaxamine all of their assumptions about the world. Hobbes is also one of those misunderstood authors who are portrayed as being cold and ruthless, but are simply trying to provide their readers with an accurate and analytic account of humanities problems and hopefully providing solutions.
If all of this hasn't scared you away yet I do have to say that Leviathan is not an easy book to read. Its thought is difficult and its language is archaic, but for those who are willing to accept the work this book can be very interesting and rewarding. Hobbes might be a dense writer, but unlike many philosophical writers, he is a very clear and concise and often surprisingly witty and wry.
There are two editons that I recommend. The first is the Hackett edition. Not only does it take the liberty of changing the veried spellings of Hobbes's 17th century english, but it also includes textual variances from the earlier Latin edition of the work. Some of these variants are significant and should be takin into consideration by the serious student. The other is the Cambridge Student Edition, which is the edition I used because I'm one of those students that enjoy reading the early english texts with their strange spellings. The disadvantage of this edition is that it does not include the latin variations. The introductions and suplementary material in both of these editions are fine, but my personal favorite is the introduction written by Michael Oakeshott which can be fond in a collection of his essays entitled, "Hobbes on Civil Association". Another work which greatly elucidates some of Hobbes's strong almost vehement reactions to anything democratic is Hobbes's "Behemoth" in which he provides his account of the English Civil War. If you are really interested in Hobbes I also highly recommend his work "De Cive". Hobbes is hard, but he is unavoidable for anyone interested in understanding our modern world and our world in general. You may even find that, like myself, you just can't get enough of Hobbes.
Essay; Absolute Sovereignty can not offer Perpetual Peace June 7, 2005
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
Why Absolute Sovereignty Can Not Offer Perpetual Peace
-On the Desires of Men
In the Leviathan, Hobbes brings forward the theory that Commonwealths arise because without governments, people live in a state of nature with the constant danger of death. Furthermore, he believes that the best form of Commonwealth is one ruled by a monarch with absolute power; just like a person with two brains will not function, if the power of the monarch is not absolute, the commonwealth will fall back into the warring state of nature. When the sovereign power becomes truly absolute, Hobbes believes the Commonwealth could "live as long as mankind" unless attacked by foreign powers (p210).
Indeed, Hobbes is right in that life under any government is better than life with no government, and also that multiple powers inside one commonwealth will cause an end to the commonwealth. Nevertheless, he is wrong in asserting that absolute monarchy is the panacea for perpetual internal peace. There are two intrinsic flaws in the his system which are bound to push the commonwealth into the state of nature: one flaw is the unchecked greed of the monarch, another is caused by the unfulfilled desire for power of the subjects. Although this paper can not offer a better formula for governments, it will show that absolute monarchy does not provide the perpetual security that Hobbes promises.
First of all, extraordinary greed of the absolute ruler can break the Commonwealth. A ruler's greed can impoverish his subjects so abjectly that they no longer have enough food to survive on. Since the purpose of the commonwealth is to guarantee the security of life, and without food there is no life, the greed of the ruler will force the absolute Commonwealth to fall back into the state of nature.
Hobbes believes that the interest of the ruler and the interest of his subjects are so interdependent that the actions of the ruler will always be in the interest of his people. He writes,
"Now in monarchy the private interest is the same with the public...the riches, power, and honor of a monarch arise only from the riches, strength and reputation of his subjects." (P120)
Hobbes is right; the sovereign is the incorporation of its subjects, and so any injuries to the people are collectively an injury to the sovereign. Nevertheless, arising out of the great complications of the businesses of state and the wide expanse of a Commonwealth, there will always be a lag between when acts of the sovereign takes effect with people and when the sovereign feels the reactions of his people himself. A ruler with perfect prudence might be able to see through the gap and act in ways that are only ultimately good for the people and himself, but as Hobbes rightly observes, no one has perfect prudence (P14). This imperfect prudence becomes especially short-sighted when the ruler's reason is clouded by his present desires. Hobbes acknowledges these desires, for he says:
"And hence it is that kings, whose power is greatest, turn their endeavors to the assuring it at home by laws or abroad by wars; and when that is done, there succeeded a new desire, in some of fame from new conquest, in others of ease and sensual pleasures, in others of admiration or being flattered for excellence in some art or other ability of the mind." (p58)
So clouded by the lack of prudence and by excessive desires, the monarch might take actions that seem good at the moment for himself, but which turn out harmful for himself later. To illustrate this, let us observe the following scenario:
The new ruler of a poor but secured country builds a modest palace, for he has learnt from history books that he should not splurge. A couple years later, however, a desire for great things tempts him, and he wants to build a winter palace. He seeks advices from ten advisors, who had all the qualities that Hobbes praises (Chapter XXV); nine out of ten advisors privately dissuade the king from this luxury for a flood is raging and their nation is poor. Saddened, the king turns to the last advisor, who, seeing an opportunity to gain favor with the ruler, loudly exclaims that the other counselors do not love their king who needs a winter palace to escape the cold. The king happily agrees with him as his reason becomes clouded by desires; and soon, the construction begins.
Having gained favor, the 10th advisor convinces the ruler to imprison the other advisors for their "bad mouthing" of the king, making him the sole voice by the ruler's ear. As time goes on, the king exerts ever greater taxes on his people to pay for ever grander palaces, and every time, the advisor not only finds more elaborate excuses for the king but praises him for his greatness and also funnels some of the money for construction into his own coffer. The affairs of the nation are in utter neglect.
One night, the king remembers his father's warnings against indulgence, and he shakes with fear; but when he sees his gardens filled with singing girls half naked, lacking the prudence to see the future awaiting him, he says to himself, "I have been endowed differently by God, the fate of others can not be my own."
The poor people of this nation become more desperate by the day, yet the ruler who lives deep inside his palaces can not know their suffering. Some years later, the harvest is so bad that people have barely enough to feed themselves, yet the king sends his money collectors for even higher tax quotas. Realizing that they could either die of starvation or die fighting against the dictator with at least a chance to live, the farmers revolt. Hobbes would support them, for he writes, "the obligation of subjects to the sovereign is understood to last as long, and no longer, than the power lasteth by which he is able to protect hem." (P144)
When the farmers' army charges into his bed chamber, the king finally feels the injuries that he has done to the people and to himself, yet reason and prudence are too late.
Absolute sovereignty means absolute power, and as the old saying goes, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." In fact, Hobbes acknowledges the greedy corruption of the monarchs, and even gives his justification. He writes,
"A man may here object that the condition of subjects is very miserable, as being obnoxious to the lusts and other irregular passions of him or them that have so unlimited a power in their hands...not considering that the estate of man can never be without some incommodity or other, and that the greatest that in any form of government can possibly happen to the people in general is scarce sensible, in respect of the miseries and horrible calamities that accompany a civil war." (P117)
Hobbes makes no mistakes here. Any government is better than no government, but as mentioned before, he makes the claim later that Commonwealths, "by the nature of their constitution they are designed to live as long as mankind" unless attacked by foreign powers (210). In the same chapter (XXIX), Hobbes attributes all the internal infirmities of the Commonwealth that shorten its "natural" life to variations of the lack of absolute power, but describes no infirmities when the Commonwealth is ruled by an absolute monarch. He thus makes it clear that if there is absolute power, then the commonwealth will "live as long as mankind" even if the monarch is corrupted. However, as shown in the illustration above, Hobbes' absolute monarchy does have tremendous infirmities.
Hobbes can, however, still argue that the previous illustration is an extreme example that barely happens in reality. Hobbes might say that if only the absolute sovereigns all studied the Leviathan carefully, they will always initiate policies for the interest of the people. Granted, Hobbes' excellent book can convert many, yet, even when the absolute sovereign is good and strong, the Commonwealth can still fall back into the state of chaos.
To Hobbes, the foremost law of nature is to find security ("a man is forbidden to do that which is destructive to his life" [P79]), but is survival the only thing that men search for? No. As Hobbes points out himself, survival is the means and not the ends of life. And while people all want to survive, they live for different ends of life as influenced by their education and upbringings. Hobbs indirectly talks about the fulfillment of some ends life when he writes,
"In such condition (of war) there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently, no culture of the earth, no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea, no commodious building" (p76)
For certain people, the end of their life lies in gaining political power-to be the ruler instead of the ruled. Hobbes indirectly recognizes people's "unnecessary" desire for power, when he writes (OL) "there are those who, from pride and a desire for glory, would conquer the whole world, which they pursue farther than their security requires." (P75)
This kind of desire, nevertheless, can not be fully satisfied in a state of absolute sovereignty. For one, the greatest prize of all, the prize of becoming your own sovereign is off-limits. Additionally, although those borne with the heart of Napoleon might be few, lower offices and positions in a state of absolute power come merely at the mercy of the sovereign-for one eager for any honor and position, his dream may never fly high because the sovereign can give the honor he deserves to someone else. As Hobbes says himself, "a man may be worthy of riches, office, and employment, that nevertheless can plead no right to have it before another, and therefore cannot be said to merit or deserve it." (p57)
For some, the limitation on of the fulfillment of their political dreams results in nothing other than the acceptance of their fates, yet history never fails to produce some who have the eagerness and bravery to challenge the ultimate authority and break the bondage of power.
Hobbes would call the act of such eager men anti-nature, since dissenters will almost certainly face unnatural deaths by the sword of the king, or face the danger of death by returning to the state of nature. However, again, survival is the means, not ends of life. The following example illustrates why people might endanger their means for their ends.
Colonized people have throughout history fought for independence against their colonial sovereigns. To Hobbes, these wars for independence must be irrational: for one, the colonized people could be enjoying many benefits either from direct aid or commercial links with their colonizer; additionally, hundreds of thousands of colonized people might die in the immediate war or during the consequent internal power struggles caused by the revolt. Yet, despite the "practical benefits" and the peace that the colonial sovereigns bestows upon the colonized, this smooth highway of subjugation is not the one that the people want; they desire for a road, smaller and rougher maybe, but one that is built by themselves to a destination that they determined for themselves. Thus, in their search for the power that is forbidden to them, they set out for the "unreasonable".
To be sure, Hobbes' Law of Nature still holds: on the battle fields, those who fight against the sovereign will always do all they could to triumph over their enemy and avoid death, but again, the need for survival is only a part of the story.
Regarding this fight for independence, Hobbes might say, as he writes, "those men that are so remissly governed that they dare take up arms to defend or introduce an opinion are still in war." (P113) This means that since the any revolutionaries must never have been a part of the commonwealth, and hence the commonwealth was only attacked from the outside and did not fall internally. Nevertheless, Hobbes also says that a monarch's "subjects" are delivered from their former obligation, and become obliged" to the victor in a war against their original sovereign. (P145) The new subjects of the monarch might have a high tendency toward revolting against ruler for the same reasons mentioned before, and in this case, Hobbes must certainly recognize that the revolutionaries are a part of the Commonwealth.
In the Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes dedicates himself to finding the best form of government, that perfect house which can last forever and provide eternal peace for all. The book is quiet admirable with its precise arguments and high ideals. Nevertheless, Hobbes ignores the fact that people will always willingly take actions that might hurt their security because they are either short-sighted or desire for something other than mere survival. Still, the Leviathan is a work of Epic proportion, and this essay does not find a form of government better than absolute sovereignty.
Say yes to British philosophy! February 7, 2005
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
Hobbes is a misunderstood philosopher. He envisaged that executive power would be based on the will of the people who allow it to be exercised. In this way Hobbes saw the development of a social contract between members of society and those who govern, based on individual rights not to subsciptive service as vassals. He also warned that agreements (or covenants) without either armed or moral right to be enforced would remain simply that - words. Hobbes does indeed speak to all peoples who live in our society - white, black and any shade in between.
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