Thomas Hobbes



Biography : Born as the son of a clergyman in Westport, England in 1588; studied at Oxford from 1603 to 1608, travelled France, Italy and Germany in 1610, learnt French and Italian. Met Galileo Galilei in Italy in 1636. A Royalist, he fled England in 1640 to live in France. From 1646 to 1648 he was tutor to the Prince of Wales (later King Charles II.). In 1651 he published the Leviathan and later that year, he returned to England.
Following the Great Fire of London, parliament sought the blame with witches and atheists, and Hobbes was accused to be one of the latter group; Leviathan was criticized by parliament. Royal intercession protected Hobbes, but King Charles forbade him to publish any more works. Hobbes died in 1679 in Hardwick Hall, England.
List of publications

1628 . . English Translation of Thucycides, Peloponnesian War
1640 . . Elements of Law
1642 . . De Cive (Concerning Citizenship)
1650 . . The Elements of Law, Natural and Politic
1651 . . Leviathan
1654 . . Of Liberty and Necessity
1655 . . De Corpore (on the Human Body)
1656 . . The Questions Concerning Liberty, Necessity and Chance
1658 . . De Homine (on Man)
1668 . . Behemoth (not published during Hobbes lifetime)

Politically, Hobbes advocated absolutism. However he made the duty of the subject toward his king conditional upon the protection the King owed to his subject. Already in the years preceding the English Civil War, Hobbes regarded parliament as the source of political chaos.







EXTERNAL
FILES 		Biography of Thomas Hobbes, from Great Voyages, from Philosophy Pages, from CEPA
DOCUMENTS Online edition of the Leviathan, from Great Voyages
Online edition of the elements of law, natural and politic, 1640, posted by Univ. of Bristol, Dept. of Economics
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on September 13th 2003, last revised on November 14th 2004

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