Leviathan (Books I and II) FULL AUDIOBOOK

 Thomas HOBBES (1588 - 1679)

Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, commonly called Leviathan, is a book written in 1651 by Thomas Hobbes. It is titled after the biblical Leviathan. The book concerns the structure of society (as represented figuratively by the frontispiece, showing the state giant made up of individuals), as is evidenced by the full title. In the book, Thomas Hobbes argues for a social contract and rule by a sovereign. Influenced by the English Civil War, Hobbes wrote that chaos or civil war - situations identified with a state of nature and the famous motto Bellum omnium contra omnes ("the war of all against all") - could only be averted by strong central government. He thus denied any right of rebellion toward the social contract. However, Hobbes did discuss the possible dissolution of the State. Since the social contract was made to institute a state that would provide for the "peace and defense" of the people, the contract would become void as soon as the government no longer protected its citizens. By virtue of this fact, man would automatically return to the state of nature until a new contract is made. Summary from Wikipedia.
Introduction
I - Of Sense
II - Of Imagination
III - Of the Consequence or Train of Imaginations
IV - Of Speech
V - Of Reason and Science
VI - Of the Interior Beginnings of Voluntary Motions, Commonly Called the Passions; and the Speeches by Which They are Expressed
VII - Of the Ends or Resolutions of Discourse
VIII - Of the Virtues Commonly Called Intellectual; and Their Contrary Defects
IX - Of the Several Subjects of Knowledge
X - Of Power, Worth, Dignity, Honour and Worthiness
XI - Of the Difference of Manners
XII - Of Religion
XIII - Of the Natural Condition of Mankind as Concerning Their Felicity and Misery
XIV - Of the First and Second Natural Laws, and of Contracts
XV - Of Other Laws of Nature
XVI - Of Persons, Authors, and Things Personated
XVII - Of the Causes, Generation, and Definition of a Commonwealth
XVIII - Of the Rights of Sovereigns by Institution
XIX - Of the Several Kinds of Commonwealth by Institution, and of Succession to the Sovereign Power
XX - Of Dominion Paternal and Despotical
XXI - Of the Liberty of Subjects
XXII - Of Systems Subject, Political and Private
XXIII - Of the Public Ministers of Sovereign Power
XXIV - Of the Nutrition and Procreation of a Commonwealth
XXV - Of Counsel
XXVI - Of Civil Laws
Of Crimes, Excuses, and Extenuations
XXVIII - Of Punishments and Rewards
XXIX - Of Those Things that Weaken or Tend to the Dissolution of a Commonwealth
XXX - Of the Office of the Sovereign Representative
XXXI - Of the Kingdom of God by Nature
Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy. His 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation for most of Western political philosophy from the perspective of social contract theory. Hobbes was a champion of absolutism for the sovereign, but he also developed some of the fundamentals of European liberal thought: the right of the individual; the natural equality of all men; the artificial character of the political order (which led to the later distinction between civil society and the state); the view that all legitimate political power must be "representative" and based on the consent of the people; and a liberal interpretation of law which leaves people free to do whatever the law does not explicitly forbid. He was one of the founders of modern political philosophy. In addition, Hobbes also contributed to a diverse array of other fields, including history, geometry, the physics of gases, theology, ethics, and general philosophy.

Genre(s): Political Science, Early Modern
Language: English
Group: Leviathan
Books in the public domain

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