Leviathan: Or the Matter, Forme, and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil - Couverture souple

Hobbes, Thomas

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1416573607 ISBN 13 : 9781416573609

Editeur : Touchstone, 2008

Synopsis

Book by Hobbes Thomas

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur :

THOMAS HOBBES was born the son of a cleric on April 5, 1588, in the town of Malmesbury in the county of Wiltshire, England. He was schooled in the Scholastic tradition at Oxford, and from the time he received his bachelor of arts degree in 1607, Hobbes served as a private tutor to various wealthy nobles in England and France. This career offered him access to well-stocked libraries and provided the opportunity to travel throughout Europe. During the next forty years, Hobbes would meet such famous people as Galileo, Descartes, and Gassendi, whose ideas were to influence him greatly.

In 1640, during one of the many periods of political turmoil he was to witness, Hobbes wrote a short work on the Elements of Law, Natural and Politique, which supported absolute monarchy. When the political tide turned in favor of the anti-royalists, Hobbes escaped to Paris. While there, he was to write De cive in 1642, a work that expanded his political theory. When Civil War broke out in England, Hobbes sought to bring his political philosophy to the English audience with the publication of Leviathan in 1651. This work was to be his most powerful restatement of absolute government grounded on a compact between the ruled and a sovereign authority that would protect the citizenry and secure peace. Since his political philosophy supported neither the divine right of a monarchy based upon succession nor the independent authority of the church, Hobbes was viewed with suspicion by both royalists and the ecclesiastical community.

Hobbes returned to England in 1651, after an eleven-year exile, and took up residence in London. After the Restoration in 1658, he lived on a modest pension from King Charles II and continued to write. In 1668 he wrote Behemoth, a history of the Civil War, but it was suppressed in manuscript until 1682 when it was published posthumously. Having borne the brunt of political in-fighting for many years, Hobbes finally retired to the town of Hardwick, where he died on December 4, 1679, at the age of 91.

Revue de presse :

The importance of Hobbes' Leviathan is largely based on the ruthlessness of its logic and the soundness of its arguments. ( Contemporary Review)

Everything about these three volumes is testimony to Malcolm's extraordinary scholarly range and precision. Just as impressive is the lucidity of Malcolm's own prose ... Specialists will find fresh insights on almost every page ... Malcolm's measured and gently sceptical style is a perfect complement to Hobbe's own extravagant scepticism ( David Runciman, Times Literary Supplement)

The lavish, meticulous annotation . . . is certainly this editions most significant contribution to the republic of letters. But the general reader will probably find Malcolms introduction, a tour de force that takes up the entire first volume, to be of greatest value. Malcolm . . . fluently and authoritatively sets Leviathan and its author in their time and provides a keen and detailed study of Leviathans genesis. Malcolms volume itself is an enduring work of history. ( Ben Schwartz, The Atlantic)

Malcolm's edition of Leviathan aims to present the masterpiece as faithfully as possible. The result - a product of many years of labour - is an astonishing achievement of the highest scholarship. We have never before had so accurate and so richly annotated a version of the text, and it is unlikely that there will ever be another that can match this edition. ( John Gray, New Statesman)

Dr Malcolm seems to have read, and judiciously assessed, everything that may be relevant to everything that may be relevant (this includes graveyard inscriptions, so it can be fairly said that he leaves no stone unturned). ( The Economist)

The most helpful piece of scholarship was Noel Malcolm's translating the Latin version and appendix of Hobbes's Leviathan in his monumental three-volume edition ( Christopher Howse, The Spectator (Books of the Year))

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Touchstone
• Date d'édition: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1416573607
• ISBN 13: 9781416573609
• Reliure: Paperback
• Nombre de pages: 576