LiegentLeviathan
Why do humans perpetually wage war against one another, and how can civilization escape this endless cycle of violence? Thomas Hobbes confronts humanity's most fundamental problem by examining the brutal reality of human nature and our desperate need for order. This short argues the solution lies in surrendering individual freedoms to create the Leviathan, a supreme authority who alone possesses the power to maintain civil order through fear and force. Hobbes' radical argument for absolute sovereignty shocked his contemporaries so deeply that authorities immediately burned his work and condemned him for sedition. This controversial vision of absolute sovereignty as humanity's only escape from chaos remains one of political philosophy's most influential and divisive arguments, confronting uncomfortable truths about power, freedom, and the price of peace.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) stands as one of the founding fathers of modern political philosophy, revolutionizing how we understand the relationship between individual liberty and state authority. Born during a turbulent era of civil wars and religious conflicts, Hobbes witnessed firsthand the chaos that emerges when legitimate government collapses. His materialist approach to human nature and society challenged traditional notions of divine right by grounding political authority in rational social contracts rather than religious doctrine, laying the intellectual foundation for modern political science.
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