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Leviathan (Oxford World's Classics) by…
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Leviathan (Oxford World's Classics) (original 1651; edition 2009)

by Thomas Hobbes, J. C. A. Gaskin (Editor)

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8,205441,050 (3.55)128
Politics. Nonfiction. HTML:

Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, from 1651, is one of the first and most influential arguments towards social contract. Written in the midst of the English Civil War, it concerns the structure of government and society and argues for strong central governance and the rule of an absolute sovereign as the way to avoid civil war and chaos.

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Member:stellakos
Title:Leviathan (Oxford World's Classics)
Authors:Thomas Hobbes
Other authors:J. C. A. Gaskin (Editor)
Info:Oxford University Press, USA (2009), Edition: Reissue, Paperback, 576 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:Philosophy

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Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (1651)

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» See also 128 mentions

English (37)  Spanish (2)  Dutch (1)  Italian (1)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  All languages (42)
Showing 1-5 of 37 (next | show all)
Potentially one of the worst books ever written. He repeats himself over and over, states opinions as facts, and his conclusions are disgusting. Maybe one day I'll be glad I read it (though I definitely didn't finish it), but that day is not today. ( )
  bookonion | Mar 13, 2024 |
Leviathan is a serpent in Hebrew mythology influenced by Tiamat, similar to Rahab in the Book of Isaiah, and written together with Behemoth in the Book of Job. In this book, it is used as a brand-new "political simile" : an artificial person, formed jointly by the people, or an Imperium "artificial political body" bearing the social contract created by the multitude. Leviathan's sword in his right hand suppresses "aristocratic power" and his scepter in his left hand checks "ecclesiastical authority". Compared with the great significance of Contract theory in tracing its origin, Hobbes regarded it as the "vortex" demon devouring resources and highlighted the danger of powerful creation under political affinity, and its foresight as a warning was also valuable. It is only the dogmatic tendency of Hobbes that gives rise to a variety of contradictions and fallacies within the book, but the inspiration for the breakthrough at that time and the later (Rousseau) still attracts respect.
  Maristot | Jun 5, 2023 |
Escrito depois da Inglaterra ter se livrado da subordinação política ao papado, Hobbes justifica e dá uma base argumentativa para as monarquias estatais do século XVII (embora, na verdade, pela quantidade de polêmicas no livro, isso não deve ter acontecido historicamente). Leviatã começa com um tratado sobre a mente e a linguagem, bastante interessante, por uma postura nominalista - só os nomes são universais, e realista pé no chão - já é um empirista britânico, os nomes são maneiras de trazer à tona ideias particulares e criar acordos a partir destas. As ideias são derivadas da sensação, causadas por pressões nos órgãos dos sentidos, imaginações (e memórias) são reminescências, o entendimento parte disso, e tudo tem extensão ou é movimento de coisas extensas, ou são combinados entre os homens, a partir de leis racionalmente determinadas.

O que não existe, não existe mesmo, como por exemplo, coisas incorpóreas, sem extensão. Na parte IV, de fato, há toda uma análise dos erros de supor que há algo não material, e os eclesiásticos são sarcasticamente comparados a fadas, por evocarem coisas que não acontecem nem existem, senão no fantasioso. De fato, Hobbes combate hábitos supersticiosos e enganos metafísicos diversos, com uma análise linguística sóbria, olhando o uso das expressões e palavras, e sua etimologia. Isso desemboca numa curiosa refutação de toda a filosofia grega, com apontamentos históricos do contexto no qual várias superstições metafísicas poderiam ter surgido (Hobbes era também tradutor do grego). Ademais, claro, a filosofia grega não teria um governo que permitiria fundar uma ética (pois como um corpo saudável pode existir sem a cabeça, o bom tirano, que lhe permita dar uma ordenação adequada?); como não há cristianismo não tinham verdades bem fundadas; e como não são nominalistas atribuem existência erroneamente a várias coisas que só existem no modo de falar.

É curioso, entretanto, como da parte 1 de repente estamos, abruptamente, no todos contra todos que é o domínio do natural para o humano, na parte 2. Me pergunto se algum animal é o lobo de si mesmo? Mas tudo bem, tinha-se guerra em toda a parte na Europa, então não é tão exdrúxulo fundar o comportamento no egoísmo selvagem do animal que, por ser racional, aplica-se ao que é melhor para sua conservação. De toda forma, a conclusão é: não havendo guerra civil, estamos no lucro. O que acaba justificando a acumulação e concentração de poder em um soberano, que por pacto (e é curioso os tons mefistofélicos) com os cidadãos, reina sobre eles, com poderes absolutos. De resto, disso seguem diversos tipos de relações contratuais, com conceitos de justiça fundados

A interpretação sobre os livros do cristianismo são os melhores que já pude ler, mas meu conhecimento do assunto é parco. O que eu gosto é que ela se prende a analisar a linguagem utilizada e identificar usos metafóricos e usos literais, restringindo o sobrenatural à incompreensibilidade de Deus e só, e atribuindo toda revelação a um estatuto inverificável que é corroborado ou não historicamente de modo particular, através dos comportamentos e normas os quais sua aceitação ou não resultou. Esse recebimento deve serbloqueado sempre que possível, pois a Igreja não deve ter poder político direto (o que ele deriva das escrituras) e porque ela não pode rivalizar com o monarca. Significados bastante mundanos para metáforas bíblicas, desfazendo confusões que envolvem em interpretar demais as escrituras, provocando confusões entre os empregos metafóricos e os literais. Assim, muitas afirmações, ao trocarem um registro da linguagem por outro, tornam-se nonsense ou então afirmações misteriosas que portanto, devem sofrer investigação quanto ao que foi dito. ( )
  henrique_iwao | Aug 30, 2022 |
Recensione: http://thereadingpal.blogspot.it/2017/01/recensione-57-leviatano.html

Il Leviatano è un testo che mi ha sempre attirato, ma non avevo particolare voglia di leggerlo. Filosofia non è proprio il mio ambito. Eppure...
Hobbes si concentra sulla Politica e, in particolare, nello Stato. Divide quindi il suo testo in quattro sezioni: 1) Dell'Uomo, 2) Dello Stato, 3) Di uno Stato Cristiano e 4) Del Regno delle Tenebre.
Per quanto mi riguarda, ho trovato piuttosto interessanti la prima e la seconda parte, mentre il mio interesse è abbastanza crollato sulla terza parte.
In Dell'Uomo Hobbes si cimenta nella descrizione delle caratteristiche umana, come i sensi, l'immaginazione, la parola. Inoltre parla anche di ragione e scienza, come anche di religione, nonché delle altre caratteristiche umane come le passioni. In questa prima parte ci chiarisce le leggi di Natura e le cause del naturale conflitto che c'è tra uomo e uomo. Interessante, no?
Anche la seconda parte non delude: Hobbes ci parla di come si viene a creare uno Stato, di cosa porta gli uomini ad abbandonare le loro caratteristiche naturali che li portano al conflitto, aderendo ad un patto con altri uomini, il cui fine primo sono la pace (che sostituisce la guerra dell'uomo in natura) e la sicurezza. Ci parla quindi della figura del Sovrano e tutto ciò che riguarda lo Stato e i sudditi. Questa è la parte che più mi interessava, personalmente.
La terza parte, invece... Hobbes ci parla dello Stato Cristiano, e così facendo ci parla di Dio e tira fuori spezzoni dei testi sacri cristiani, che compongono la maggior parte di questa sezione. Mi sembrava di essere tornata a fare catechismo, che già mi annoiava da piccola, figuriamoci ora.
Nella quarta parte ci parla del nostro mondo corrente, che secondo lui è nel periodo del Regno delle Tenebre e, a continuare la sezione precedente, ci dice che il regno di Dio non è ancora venuto.
Pur essendo un testo corposo (e questa versione ha dei caratteri minuscoli), è interessante e tutto sommato sono contenta di averlo letto.
Anche il saggio di Galli è piuttosto interessante, e la traduzione, correlata di note, ottima. ( )
  thereadingpal | Jun 14, 2022 |
To raise from his short, brutish existence man willing give up his freedom and rights to protect himself if others do the same to one strong man who promises to protect them. Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan revolves around this idea but leading up to it and expounding upon it is a surprising amount of insight of both political and religious thought.

Hobbes’ work is divided into four parts with the first, “Of Man”, covering human nature and why men form governments not for the greater good as other postulate but to protect themselves and their stuff. Hobbes essentially says that men give up their freedom to the government to be protected from other men so they can keep their life and possessions that they can add to. In the second part, “Of Commonwealth”, Hobbes argues that the perfect government is under one absolute sovereign—whether a monarch or legislative body—that will control all aspects of the government with the aim to preserve the persons of the governed by any means necessary and that the govern must obey the sovereign in all aspects of life including in religion and taxation, the later must be used to support those unable to maintain themselves. In part three, “Of a Christian Commonwealth”, Hobbes discusses how a Christian commonwealth should be governed and essentially says that the civil power is the final arbiter of all spiritual revelation and thus the religious power is subordinate to the sovereign as seen in the Holy Scriptures. In the final part, “Of the Kingdom of Darkness”, Hobbes turns his focus towards ignorance of the true light of knowledge and its causes which stem from religious deceivers through four things—misinterpretation, demonology and saints, the mixing of religion with erroneous Greek philosophy, and mixing of these false doctrines and traditions with feigned history. Hobbes blames all the churches and churchmen for these causes as they are the beneficiaries at the expense of the civil power which endangers the commonwealth and the preservation of every man in them.

As one of the earliest and most influential works on social contract theory, Hobbes’ political ideas are often cited and quoted. However, the fact that almost half the work is a religious discourse was a surprise and insightful. That Hobbes discredited church-led states was gratifying, though he then recommended state control of religion was a disappointment but not surprising given the theme of his work. Besides his views on the church-state relationship, Hobbes’ work is primary to understanding how the political thought of today began and how his contemporaries and those that followed him reacted to his views.

Leviathan is Thomas Hobbes’ magnum opus of political thought and has been influential for centuries, whether one agrees with his conclusions or vehemently disagrees. ( )
1 vote mattries37315 | Jun 24, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 37 (next | show all)
*Malmesburyn ateisti suomeksi*

Liberaalin markkinatalousjärjestelmän syntyä ja olemusta koskevat pohdinnat ovat suomalaisessa keskustelussa viime aikoina lisääntyneet. Mikäli Englantia voidaan 1600-luvulta lähtien pitää modernin, porvarillisen Euroopan pioneerimaana suhteellisen joustavan sosiaalisen rakenteensa sekä poliittisen ja taloudellisen kehityksensä osalta, on englantilaisen poliittisen ajattelun klassikoiden suomentaminen erityisen ajankohtaista. Tuomo Ahon suomennos Thomas Hobbesin Leviathan-teoksesta on suuri kulttuuriteko vielä kolme ja puoli vuosisataa alkuteoksen ilmestymisen jälkeen jo siksi, että Hobbes ottaa kantaa ihmistä, ihmisyhteisöjä ja ylipäätään olemassaoloa koskeviin kysymyksiin tavalla, joka on yhtä ajankohtainen nykyihmiselle kuin se oli Hobbesin aikalaisille.
 

» Add other authors (155 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Thomas Hobbesprimary authorall editionscalculated
Molesworth, Sir WilliamEditormain authorall editionsconfirmed
Berkel, Abraham vanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Curley, EdwinEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Macpherson, C. B.Editorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
McCalluum, R. B.Editorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Oakeshott, MichaelEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Plamenatz, JohnEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Smith, W. G. PogsonEssaysecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Tuck, RichardEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wilson, C. H.Editorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Nature (the ary whereby God hath made and governs the world) is by the art of man, as in many other things, so in this also imitated, that it can make an artificial animal.
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He that is to govern a whole Nation, must read in himself, not this, or that particular man; but Man-kind: which though it be hard to do, harder than to learn any Language, or Science; yet when I shall have set down my own reading orderly, and perspicuously, the pains left another, will be onely to consider if he also find not the same in himself.
The names of such things as affect us, that is, which please, and displease us, because all men be not alike affected with the same thing, nor the same man at all times, are in the common discourses of men of inconstant signification. For seeing all names are imposed to signifie our conceptions; and all our affections are but conceptions; when we conceive the same things differently, we can hardly avoyd different naming of them. For though the nature of what we conceive, be the same; yet the diversity of our reception of it, in respect of different constitutions of body, and prejudices of opinion, gives everything a tincture of our different passions. And therefore in reasoning, a man must take heed of words; which besides the signification of what we imagine of their nature, have a signification also of the nature, disposition, and interest of the speaker; such as are the names of Vertues, and Vices; For one man calleth Wisdome, what another calleth feare; and one cruelty, what another justice; one prodigality, what another magnanimity; and one gravity, what another stupidity, &c. And therefore such names can never be true grounds of any ratiocination. No more can Metaphors, and Tropes of speech: but these are less dangerous, because they profess their inconstancy; which the other do not.

And those who do deceive upon hope of not being observed, do commonly deceive themselves, (the darknesse in which they lye hidden, being nothing else but there own blindnesse;) and are no wiser than Children, that think all hid, by hiding there own eyes.
Fear of oppression disposes a man to anticipate or to seek aid by society, for there is no other way by which a man can secure his life and liberty.
The office of the sovereign (be it a monarch or an assembly) consists in the end for which he was trusted with the sovereign power, namely the procuration of the safety pf the people. To which he is obliged by the law of nature and to render an account thereof to God...and to none but Him.
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Politics. Nonfiction. HTML:

Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, from 1651, is one of the first and most influential arguments towards social contract. Written in the midst of the English Civil War, it concerns the structure of government and society and argues for strong central governance and the rule of an absolute sovereign as the way to avoid civil war and chaos.

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