Thomas Hobbes: Political Ideas in Historical Context

ISBN-13: 9780333495995 / Angielski / Miękka / 1992 / 248 str.

Johann P. Sommerville

Opis

Johann Sommerville's is an impeccable textbook. Simply written, it provides exposition of Hobbes' arguments in the context of English and continental thought'. P. Springborg, University of Sydney, Political Studies, Vol. XL1, No 2 6/93 Thomas Hobbes was probably the greatest of British political theorists. Too often commentators have failed to grasp his meaning because they have ignored the historical context in which he wrote. Drawing on much recent scholarship and on many little-known seventeenth century sources, this book presents a lucid and jargon-free examination of Hobbes' arguments, setting them against a background of the ideas of his contemporaries and of the political events of his lifetime. By viewing Hobbes in his context, the book both clarifies his theories and illuminates European thinking at a critical stage in the development of modern political ideas.

Spis treści

Preface.- List of Abbreviations.- Chronology.- PART 1: HOBBES AND HIS CONTEXT.- Introductory.- 1588-1640.- 1640-51.- 1651-79.- PART 2: THE LAW OF NATURE AND THE NATURAL CONDITION OF MANKIND.- Self-preservation.- The State and Right of Nature.- The Laws of Nature and Justice
Covenants.- PART 3: THE ORIGINS OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATURE OF POLITICAL OBLIGATION.- The Institution of a Commonwealth.- Conquest.- The Family and the State
Political Obligation.- PART 4: HOBBES ON SOVEREIGNTY AND LAW.- Sovereignty.- The Liberty and Property of the Subject.- Law and the Sovereign.- The Duties of the Sovereign.- PART 5: HOBBES ON CHURCH AND STATE.- What is Scripture?.- Ecclesiastical Power: the Case Against Bellarmine.- Ecclesiastical Power: De Cive, Leviathan and Anglican Thinking.- Excommunication and Erastianism.- PART 6: GOD, RELIGION AND TOLERATION.- God.- Faith, Salvation, Revelation, Prophecy and Miracles.- Toleration and Conscience.- Church History and Reformation.- Conclusion.- Notes.- Bibliography.- Index.

O autorze

JOHANN P. SOMMERVILLE is Associate Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a former fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. His previous publications include Politics and Ideology in England, 1603-1640.