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Leviathan

Leviathan is a seminal work in political philosophy, examining the relationship between the ruler and the ruled, the nature of government, and the social contract. It argues for the absolute power of the sovereign and the necessity of a strong central authority to maintain order and stability in society. more

Author

Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes, a British philosopher, politician, historian, economist, and writer, was born on April 5, 1588, in Wiltshire, and died on December 4, 1679, in Oxford, England. Hobbes is considered one of the most important philosophers of the 17th century, known for his profound analysis of the state, society, and human behavior. more

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“For it is not the bare Words, but the Scope of the writer that giveth true light, by which any writing is to bee interpreted; and they that insist upon single Texts, without considering the main Designe, can derive no thing from them clearly; but rather by casting atomes of Scripture, as dust before mens eyes, make everything more obscure than it is; an ordinary artifice of those who seek not the truth, but their own advantage.”

WritingLightEyeOrdinaryAdvantageScriptureDustBeesConsideringObscureCastingScopeArtifice
Author:Thomas Hobbes
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“He that is to govern a whole Nation , must read in himself, not this, or that particular man; but Mankind; 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 only to consider, if he also find not the same in himself. For this kind of Doctrine, admitteth no other Demonstration.”

IfsMenKindHardWholePainReadingLeftLanguageNationsMy OwnMankindParticularHarderDoctrineDemonstrationOrderly
Book:Leviathan - Revised Edition
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“If this superstitious fear of Spirits were taken away, and with it, Prognostiques from Dreams, false Prophecies, and many other things depending thereon, by which, crafty ambitious persons abuse the simple people, men would be much more fitted then they are for civill Obedience.”

PeopleIfsMenPersonsDreamWould BeSpiritSimpleTakenAbuseObedienceAmbitiousProphecySuperstitiousCraftyAmbitious Person
Book:Annotated LEVIATHAN with English Grammar Exercises: by Thomas Hobbes (Author), Robert Powell (Editor)
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“Desire , to know why, and how, CURIOSITY; such as is in no living creature but Man ; so that Man is distinguished, not only by his Reason; but also by this singular Passion from other Animals ; in whom the appetite of food, and other pleasures of Sense, by predominance, take away the care of knowing causes; which is a Lust of the mind, that by a perseverance of delight in the continual and indefatigable generation of Knowledge, exceedeth the short vehemence of any carnal Pleasure.”

KnowsMenMindReasonCareDesirePassionCausesPleasureAnimalKnowingGenerationsCreaturesPerseveranceCuriosityDelightLustAppetiteDistinguishedLiving CreaturesVehemence
Book:Leviathan
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“And as in other things, so in men, not the seller, but the buyer determines the Price.”

MenDetermineSellersBuyers
Book:The Moral and Political Works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury: Never Before Collected Together : To which is Prefixed, the Author's Life, Extracted from that Said to be Written by Himself, ...
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“So that in the first place, I put for a general inclination of all mankind a perpetual and restless desire of Power after power, that ceaseth only in Death. And the cause of this is not always that a man hopes for a more intensive delight than he has already attained to, or that he cannot be content with a moderate power: but because he cannot assure the power and means to live well, which he hath present, without the acquisition of more.”

MenFirstsWellsMeanDesireCausesMankindDelightPerpetualRestlessInclinationModeratesAcquisitionLive Well
Author:Thomas Hobbes
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