Leviathan (1651), written during the English Civil War, offers one of history’s most powerful arguments for political authority. Hobbes begins with a stark vision of human nature and builds a case for absolute sovereignty.
The State of Nature
Without government, humans exist in a “state of nature” characterized by perpetual conflict. Resources are scarce, humans are roughly equal in power, and there is no common authority to enforce agreements.
“The life of man [in the state of nature is] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
This is not merely speculation about prehistoric times. Whenever authority breaks down—in civil war, between nations—the state of nature returns.
The Social Contract
To escape this condition, rational individuals agree to surrender their natural freedom to a sovereign power. This “social contract” creates the Leviathan—the state—which has absolute authority to maintain peace.
Key features:
- The contract is between individuals, not with the sovereign
- Once established, the sovereign cannot be legitimately overthrown
- The sovereign’s authority covers all aspects of public life
Materialist Psychology
Hobbes grounds his politics in a mechanistic view of human nature. We are driven by desires and aversions, seeking power to secure future satisfaction. Reason is instrumental, calculating means to ends.
Lasting Significance
Though few accept Hobbes’s conclusions, his questions remain central: Why should we obey the state? What justifies political authority? What are the alternatives to order?
Leviathan established social contract theory as a dominant framework in political philosophy and continues to provoke debate about power, freedom, and security.