Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher, is credited with contributing to the development of modern political philosophy. On April 5, 1588, he was born in Westport, Wiltshire, England. He entered the University of Oxford but left before completing his degree due to a lack of finances. His most significant work was "Leviathan," which was released in 1651 and included Hobbes' political philosophy. He argued in "Leviathan" that without a strong central authority to control individuals, life would be...See more

Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher, is credited with contributing to the development of modern political philosophy. On April 5, 1588, he was born in Westport, Wiltshire, England. He entered the University of Oxford but left before completing his degree due to a lack of finances. His most significant work was "Leviathan," which was released in 1651 and included Hobbes' political philosophy. He argued in "Leviathan" that without a strong central authority to control individuals, life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" since humans are essentially self-interested and competitive. Hobbes believed in a "state of nature," and he believed that a strong government with an absolute monarch at the head was the only way to prevent society from degenerating into chaos. The politics of the time, particularly the English Civil War, had a big effect on Hobbes' philosophical outlook. He believed that the only practical way to prevent civil war was to give the monarch all power, including the capacity to tax, create laws, and sustain an army. He also believed that in order for individuals to be protected by the state, they must be prepared to give up some of their inalienable rights. In his day and even now, political scientists and philosophers disagree on Hobbes' beliefs on the nature of governance and the state. He had a significant impact on later political thinkers like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. See less