Introduction

Leviathan is the great sea beast of the Book of Job, and Hobbes uses it as an image of the state, an 'artificial man'. Starting from human nature, he deduces the necessity of the state. In the 'state of nature', without any common power, each seeks his own preservation and all mistrust one another, and the result is 'a war of every man against every man', in which the life of man is 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short'. To escape this condition, people covenant with one another to hand their rights to a sovereign who will keep peace and security. Part I, 'Of Man', analyses human nature; Part II, 'Of Commonwealth', sets out the powers of the sovereign and the duties of subjects. The book laid the foundation of modern political philosophy and began the tradition of the social contract.