Hobbes' "Leviathan"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the concepts of liberty in a society. It defines and describes these concepts according to John Hobbes' views expressed in "Leviathan." The paper analyzes Hobbes' arguments and questions how humans can have total liberty and yet governments can also have authority to define what liberties humans should have. The paper discusses these points.

Table of Contents:
Thesis
Review of Scholarship on Hobbes' Leviathan
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"But, in conclusion, if that "artificial" institution uses violence or repression to "keep disorder at bay" then, according to what I have gained from reading Hobbes, individuals like myself will have the natural right to disobey those unfair orders, and create an alternative "artificial institution" to be truly free and express absolute liberty. After all, it was Hobbes who said, "Whensoever a man transferreth his right...it is either in consideration of some right reciprocally transferred to himself, or for some other good he hopeth for thereby." I don't plan to transfer any of my rights to government any time soon, other than to perhaps help the habitat of an endangered species, or to assist another human in dire need of my sacrifice."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Goldstick, D. (2004). Cans and ifs: ability to will and ability to act. The Journal of Value Inquiry, 38(1), 105-109.
• Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. In C.B. MacPherson (Ed.), Leviathan (pp. 183-192). Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968.
• Malcolm, Noel. (2005). What Hobbes really said. The National Interest, Vol. 81, 122-129.
• Owen, J. Judd. (2005). The tolerant Leviathan: Hobbes and the paradox of liberalism. Polity, 37(1), 130-149.

More papers on Hobbes' "Leviathan":

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• Analytical Essay # 112268 : "Frontispiece of Hobbes' "Leviathan"
• Analytical Essay # 119750 : "Hobbes' "Leviathan": Man Against Man"

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