English philosopher whose Leviathan (1651) is a founding text of social contract theory. He argued that without a powerful sovereign authority, human life in the state of nature would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short, and that rational individuals would agree to submit to strong central authority to escape it. He died in 1679.
Facts
Classification
Political Role Thomas Hobbes
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Connections
Advocated
Hobbes conceived sovereignty as absolute authority transferred from the people to a sovereign through a social contract (Leviathan, 1651).
Source Thomas Hobbes (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Hobbes' Leviathan (1651) is the founding modern statement of social contract theory, grounding an absolute sovereign in individual consent.
Source Thomas Hobbes (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Drafted
Hobbes wrote Leviathan during his exile in Paris, publishing it in 1651 after returning to England.
Source Thomas Hobbes (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Founded
Hobbes' Leviathan (1651) described the commonwealth as an artificial person created when individuals covenant to transfer their natural right of self-governance to a sovereign.
Source Thomas Hobbes (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Has Article
Influenced
Locke took up Hobbes's social contract framework while rejecting its absolutist conclusion, arguing consent could be withdrawn from a government that broke the trust.
Source Locke's Political Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Influenced By
Grotius' secularized natural-law foundation for sovereignty is the acknowledged starting point Hobbes worked from and against in Leviathan.
Source Hugo Grotius (Britannica)
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Same As
Also in Philosophy Atlas: the same subject.
Sources
1. Thomas Hobbes - Wikipedia (Wikipedia)
2. Thomas Hobbes (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyEntity description, gender reference sentence
He argued that without a powerful sovereign authority, human life in the state of nature would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short, and that rational individuals would agree to submit to strong central authority to escape it.
- Advocated: Sovereignty
- Advocated: The Social Contract
- Founded: The State
Drafted: Leviathan, Page text
Late in his time in France, Hobbes wrote Leviathan , which was published in 1651.
- Drafted: Leviathan, Section discussing Leviathan
View the Source Hugo Grotius (Britannica)
Influenced By: Hugo Grotius
Locke's Political Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
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