LEVIATHAN - Softcover

Thomas Hobbes

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140431950 ISBN 13: 9780140431957

Publisher: Penguin, 1982

Synopsis

Viewing politics as a science capable of the same axiomatic approach as mathematics, Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan retains its appeal for the modern reader, not just in its elevation of politics to a science, but in its overriding concern for peace. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction by C.B. Macpherson.

Written during the turmoil of the English Civil War, Leviathan is an ambitious and highly original work of political philosophy. Claiming that man's essential nature is competitive and selfish, Hobbes formulates the case for a powerful sovereign or 'Leviathan' to enforce peace and the law, substituting security for the 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short' life he believed human beings would otherwise experience. This world view shocked many of Hobbes's contemporaries, and his work was publicly burnt for sedition and blasphemy when it was first published. But in his rejection of Aristotle's view of man as a naturally social being, and in his painstaking analysis of the ways in which society can and should function, Hobbes opened up a new world of political science.

Based on the original 1651 text, this edition incorporates Hobbes's own corrections, while also retaining the original spelling and punctuation, and reads with vividness and clarity. C.B Macpherson's introduction elucidates for the general reader one of the most fascinating works of modern philosophy.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English philosopher and political theorist, one of the first modern Western thinkers to provide a secular justification for the political state. Regarded as an important early influence on the philosophical doctrine of utilitarianism, Hobbes also contributed to modern psychology and laid the foundations of modern sociology.

If you enjoyed Leviathan, you might enjoy Plato's Republic, also available in Penguin Classics.

About this title

Review:

The importance of Hobbes' Leviathan is largely based on the ruthlessness of its logic and the soundness of its arguments. (Contemporary Review)

Everything about these three volumes is testimony to Malcolm's extraordinary scholarly range and precision. Just as impressive is the lucidity of Malcolm's own prose ... Specialists will find fresh insights on almost every page ... Malcolm's measured and gently sceptical style is a perfect complement to Hobbe's own extravagant scepticism (David Runciman, Times Literary Supplement)

The lavish, meticulous annotation . . . is certainly this editions most significant contribution to the republic of letters. But the general reader will probably find Malcolms introduction, a tour de force that takes up the entire first volume, to be of greatest value. Malcolm . . . fluently and authoritatively sets Leviathan and its author in their time and provides a keen and detailed study of Leviathans genesis. Malcolms volume itself is an enduring work of history. (Ben Schwartz, The Atlantic)

Malcolm's edition of Leviathan aims to present the masterpiece as faithfully as possible. The result - a product of many years of labour - is an astonishing achievement of the highest scholarship. We have never before had so accurate and so richly annotated a version of the text, and it is unlikely that there will ever be another that can match this edition. (John Gray, New Statesman)

Dr Malcolm seems to have read, and judiciously assessed, everything that may be relevant to everything that may be relevant (this includes graveyard inscriptions, so it can be fairly said that he leaves no stone unturned). (The Economist)

The most helpful piece of scholarship was Noel Malcolm's translating the Latin version and appendix of Hobbes's Leviathan in his monumental three-volume edition (Christopher Howse, The Spectator (Books of the Year))

From the Publisher:

The Broadview Editions series is an effort to represent the ever-changing canon of literature in English by bringing together texts long regarded as classics with valuable, lesser-known literature. Newly type-set and produced on high-quality paper in trade paperback format, the Broadview Editions series is a delight to handle as well as to read.

Each volume includes a full introduction, chronology, bibliography, and explanatory notes along with a variety of documents from the period, giving readers a rich sense of the world from which the work emerged.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0140431950
• ISBN 13: 9780140431957
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 730