Leviathan, published by Thomas Hobbes in 1651, is one of the founding texts of modern political philosophy. Writing amid the English Civil War, Hobbes argues that in the state of nature life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” and that only a powerful sovereign can secure peace. Individuals, he contends, agree by social contract to surrender their rights to an absolute authority.
The work ranges across human psychology, the nature of the commonwealth, and the relationship between church and state. Its rigorous, materialist account of society shaped centuries of debate about government, obligation, and liberty. This free EPUB edition offers the complete text for readers exploring the intellectual upheavals of seventeenth-century Europe.