Oxford World's Classics

''He that is to govern a whole Nation, must read inhimself, not this, or that particular man; but Man-kind.'' Thomas Hobbes''s Leviathanis not just one of the greatest philosophicaltexts in the English language; it is one of the most important works in thehistory of Western political thought. Almost every major tradition in thecenturies after Hobbes - from radical democracy to authoritarianism - hasbeen influenced by its arguments. Written in exile in a period of dramaticdevelopments - civil war and regicide - Leviathanis in some ways theproduct of its own special circumstances. And yet, at the same time,it deals with fundamental issues that matter to all of us today: the natureand purpose of the state, the relation between human nature and politics,the idea of natural rights, the justification of authority, the concept ofrepresentation, the nature of sovereignty, the limits of obedience, andthe relationship between religious obligations