apr 1, 1651 - Hobbes' Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil

Description:

It concerns the structure of society and legitimate government. A work on statecraft comparable to Machiavelli's The Prince. Written during the English Civil War (1642–1651), Leviathan argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. Hobbes wrote that civil war and the brute situation of a state of nature ("the war of all against all") could only be avoided by strong, undivided government. Morality is derived from natural law.

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