"During the time men live without a common Power to keep them all in awe,
they are in that condition which is called Warre" Written during the
turmoil of the English Civil War, "Leviathan"is an ambitious and highly
original work of political philosophy. Claiming that man's essential nature
is competitive and selfish, Hobbes formulates the case for a powerful
sovereign or "Leviathan" to enforce peace and the law, substituting
security for the anarchic freedom he believed human beings would otherwise
experience. This worldview shocked many of Hobbes's contemporaries, and his
work was publicly burnt for sedition and blasphemy when it was first
published. But in his rejection of Aristotle's view of man as a naturally
social being, and in his painstaking analysis of the ways in which society
can and should function, Hobbes opened up a whole new world of political
science. Based on the original 1651 text, this edition incorporates
Hobbes's own corrections, while also retaining the original spelling and
punctuation, to read with vividness and clarity. C. B. Macpherson's
introduction elucidates one of the most fascinating works of modern
philosophy for the general reader. For more than seventy years, Penguin has
been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking
world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global
bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and
disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts
enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and
contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning
translators."