Major Works

• Leviathan, or the Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiastical and Civil [1651]

  - Hackett, 1994 (Edwin Curley, ed.)
  The Leviathan is Hobbes’s masterwork, published in 1651. It contains four parts: “Of Man,” “Of Commonwealth,” “Of a Christian Commonwealth,” and “Of the Kingdom of Darkness.” “Of Man” connects… More

• The Elements of Philosophy: De Cive

  - Hackett, 1991 (Bernard Gert, ed. -- contains De Cive and selections of De Homine)
  The Elements of Philosophy is composed of three parts, not published in their intended order. De Cive, published in 1642, was Hobbes’s first definitive articulation of his political philosophy. It includes Hobbes’s account of the state of nature and the… More

• The Elements of Law, Natural and Politic [1640]

  - Oxford University Press, 2008 (Human Nature and de Corpore Politico, J.C.A. Gaskin, ed.)
  This is Hobbes’s first published philosophical work (1640), which was written in part in response to the conflicts between Charles I and Parliament. The book represents Hobbes’s initial attempt to address political matters with the deductive methods of… More

Commentary

• Second Treatise of Government [1689]

  - John Locke (C. B. Macpherson, ed., Hackett, 1980)
  Locke’s Second Treatise, one of the great texts in the history of liberal political thought and a great influence on the American founders, is simultaneously a continuation of Hobbes’ thought and a criticism of Hobbes’ scheme.  Like Hobbes,… More

• Community and Civil Society [1887]

  - Ferdinand Toennies (Margaret Hollis, trans., Jose Harris, ed., Cambridge, 2001)
  Tönnies’ Community and Civil Society (first published in 1887 as Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft) is a classic of social and political theory, exploring the tension between close-knit “communities” and an emerging global market… More

• The Political Philosophy of Hobbes: His Theory of Obligation [1957]

  - Howard Warrender (Oxford University Press, 2000)  
  A lengthy consideration of Hobbes’ theory of obligation as it comes to light in his discussion of the state of nature and civil society.

• On the Sovereign Authorization

  - Clifford Orwin, "On the Sovereign Authorization," Political Theory, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Feb. 1975).
  Excerpt: HOBBES IS, as others have shown, the founder of the modern notion of representation. He does not, however, speak exclusively of “representation,” and “personation” and “standing-for,” but of… More

• Hobbes on Civil Association [1975]

  - Michael Oakeshott (Liberty Fund, 2000)
  This volume consists of Michael Oakeshott’s four principal essays on Hobbes and on the nature of civil association as civil association pertains to ordered liberty. The essays are “Introduction to Leviathan” (1946); “The Moral Life in the Writings of… More

• Hobbesian Moral and Political Theory

  - Gregory S. Kavka (Princeton University Press, 1986)
  From the book description: Both conflict and cooperation are ubiquitous features of human social life. Interests of individuals conflict with those of their neighbors because (among other reasons) material resources are scarce, ideals and values are diverse,… More

• Hobbes and the Social Contract Tradition

  - Jean Hampton (Cambridge University Press, 1986)
  This major study of Hobbes’s political philosophy draws on recent developments in game and decision theory to explore whether the thrust of the argument in Leviathan, that it is in the interests of the people to create a ruler with absolute power, can… More