Leviathan

What is the historical context in which Hobbes wrote Leviathan? How did the violence of the English Civil Wars affect Hobbes, both personally and philosophically?

How did Hobbes influence the work of other philosophers, specifically John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau? On what issues do these three men agree? How do their philosophies differ?

On the topics of the state of nature and social contracts, do you find Hobbes’s arguments more or less compelling than Locke’s and Rousseau’s? What are the virtues of each man’s philosophy? What are the flaws?

What is the significance of the book’s title and frontispiece? Why did Hobbes choose the symbol of the leviathan to embody sovereign power?

Do you agree with Hobbes’s contention that a sovereign, by virtue of receiving consent to rule from the people, can do nothing that is considered unjust? Why does Hobbes believe this?

Hobbes argues in favor of commonwealths ruled by sovereigns with absolute power because he believes they reduce violence within a nation-state. But what about the violence that persists between commonwealths under this framework? Is Hobbes’s demand of absolute obedience from subjects worth the reduction in violence, given that his political philosophy does not prevent—and may even exacerbate—violence between commonwealths?

Do you believe Hobbes poses a convincing argument regarding a subject’s ability to simultaneously obey God’s law and the sovereign’s law, even when they contradict? Why or why not?

The text makes it clear that Hobbes believes in God. Why did his contemporaries label him an atheist? Do you believe in the sincerity of Hobbes’s professed devotion to Christianity? And should that matter with respect to Hobbes’s political philosophies?