Other editions of book Leviathan: Or the Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclasiasticall and Civil

S. A. Lloyd proposes a radically distinct interpretation of Hobbes's Leviathan that shows transcendent interests - interests that override the fear of death - to be crucial to both Hobbes's analysis of social disorder and his proposed remedy to it. Most previous commentators in the analytic philosophical tradition have argued that Hobbes thought that credible threats of physical force could be sufficient to deter people from political insurrection. Professor Lloyd convincingly shows that because Hobbes took the transcendence of religious and moral interests seriously, he never believed that mere physical force could ensure social order. Lloyd's interpretation demonstrates the ineliminability of that half of Leviathan devoted to religion, and attributes to Hobbes a much more plausible conception of human nature than the narrow psychological egoism traditionally attributed to Hobbes.

Review of "Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiastical and Civill (Leviathan)," by Thomas Hobbes (b. 1588- d. 1679). Hobbes was known for his views on how humans could thrive in harmony while avoiding the perils and fear of societal conflict. His experience during a time of upheaval in England influenced his thoughts and beliefs. "All of his works concern the structure of society and legitimate government, and Leviathan is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory when it was written during the English Civil War (1642-1651)." Hobbes believed that peace and effective rule could only be achieved through a strong central government. Leviathan argues for a social contract for the subjects through rule by an absolute sovereign. For example on page 164 in Chapter XXX Of the Office of the Soveraign Representative: "Such as are Necessary: For the use of Lawes, (which are but Rules Authorised) is not to bind the People from all Voluntary actions; but to direct and keep them in such as motion, as not to hurt themselves by their own impetuous desires, rashnesse, or indiscretion, as Hedges are set, not to stop Travellers, but to keep them in the way. And therefore a Law that is not Needful, having not the true End of a Law, is not Good. A Law may be conceived to be Good, when it is for the benefit of the Soveraign; though it be not Necessary for the People; but it is not so. For the good of the Soveraign and People, cannot be separated. It is a weak Soveraign, that has weak subjects; and a weak People, whose Soveraign wanteth Power to rule them at his will. Unnecessary Lawes are not good Lawes; but trapps for Mony; which where the right of Soveraign Power is acknowledged, are superfluous; and where it is not acknowledged, unsufficient to defend the People. ( Amazon customer)

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The leviathan is the vast unity of the State. But how are unity, peace, and security to be attained? Hobbes' answer is sovereignty, but the resurgence of interest today in Leviathan is due less to its answers than its methods: Hobbes sees politics as a science capable of the same axiomatic approach as geometry. Written during the turmoil of the English Civil War, Leviathan was, in Hobbes' lifetime, publicly burnt and even condemned in Parliament as one of the causes of the Great Fire of London in 1666. Its current appeal lies not just in its elevation of politics to a science, but in its overriding concern for peace, its systematic analysis of power, and its convincing apologia for the then-emergent market society in which we still live.