Major Works

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

  - Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan: With Selected Variants from the Latin Edition of 1668. Edited by Edwin Curley. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1994.
  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

  - Hobbes, Thomas. Man and Citizen (De Homine and De Cive). Edited by Bernard Gert. Translated by Charles T. Wood, T. S. K. Scott-Craig, and Bernard Gert. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1991.
  Thomas Hobbes’s De Cive (Latin for “On the Citizen”), first published in 1642 and later revised in 1647, is a foundational text in his political philosophy. It serves as a precursor to his more famous work, Leviathan, and systematically… 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

• 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

• “Fear of Death” by Gary Herbert

  - Herbert, Gary. "Fear of Death and the Foundations of Natural Right in the Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes." Hobbes Studies 7, no. 1 (1994): 56–68.    
  Herbert’s article “Fear of Death and the Foundations of Natural Right in the Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes” examines how Hobbes’s understanding of human fear influences his conception of natural rights and the establishment of political… More