Thomas Hobbes

Author profile

born

in Westport, now part of Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England, The United Kingdom

April 05, 1588

died

December 04, 1679

website

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes/

genre

Philosophy, History, Politics

influences

Aristotle, Descartes, Machiavelli, Thucydides, Hugo Grotius

About this author

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Thomas Hobbes was a British philosopher and a seminal thinker of modern political philosophy. His ideas were marked by a mechanistic materialist foundation, a characterization of human nature based on greed and fear of death, and support for an absolute monarchical form of government. His 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation for most of Western political philosophy from the perspective of social contract theory.

He was also a scholar of classical Greek history and literature, and produced English translation of Illiad, Odyssey and History of Peloponnesian War.

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Thomas Hobbes's Books

Average rating: 3.72 · 19,003 ratings · 527 reviews · 81 distinct works · Similar authors

	Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, C.B. MacPherson (Editor, Introduction) 3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 avg rating — 12,033 ratings — published 1651 — 147 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	On the Citizen 3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 avg rating — 116 ratings — published 1642 — 16 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Elements of Law, Natural and Politic: Part I: Human Nature; Part II: de Corpore Politico with Three Lives by Thomas Hobbes, J.C. Gaskin (Editor) 3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 avg rating — 68 ratings — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Of Man 3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 avg rating — 46 ratings — published 1658	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Man and Citizen: de Homine and de Cive 3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 avg rating — 46 ratings — published 1972 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Behemoth or The Long Parliament by Thomas Hobbes, Stephen T. Holmes (Introduction) 3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 35 ratings — published 1964 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thucydides by Thomas Hobbes, Thucydides 4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 2010	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Dialogue between a Philosopher and a Student of the Common Laws of England by Thomas Hobbes, Joseph Cropsey (Editor) 3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 1971 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The English Works Of Thomas Hobbes Of Malmesbury. Now First Collected And Ed. By Sir William Molesworth. Volume 10. The Illiads, And Odysses Of Homer, Tr. By T. Hobbes 4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 avg rating — 9 ratings	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Metaphysical System of Hobbes in Twelve Chapters from His Elements of Philosophy Concerning Body, Together with Briefer Extracts from His Human Na 3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2006 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Thomas Hobbes

“Curiosity is the lust of the mind”
― Thomas Hobbes

tags: life-lessons, mistakes

194 people liked it

“Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of war, where every man is enemy to every man, the same consequent to the time wherein men live without other security than what their own strength and their own invention shall furnish them withal. In such condition there is no place for industry... no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
― Thomas Hobbes

27 people liked it

“For such is the nature of man, that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more learned; Yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves: For they see their own wit at hand, and other mens at a distance.”
― Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

tags: human-nature

17 people liked it

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Thomas Hobbes

Author profile

combine editionsThomas Hobbes's Books

Quotes by Thomas Hobbes

Topics Mentioning This Author

combine editions
Thomas Hobbes's Books