Leviathan

or, matter, form and power of a commonwealth ecclesiastical and civil

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Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan (1952, Encyclopaedia Britannica)

283 pages

English language

Published Dec. 14, 1952 by Encyclopaedia Britannica.

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Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, from 1651, is one of the first and most influential arguments towards social contract. Written in the midst of the English Civil War, it concerns the structure of government and society and argues for strong central governance and the rule of an absolute sovereign as the way to avoid civil war and chaos.

49 editions