Hobbes

Front Cover
Psychology Press, 2005 - Biography & Autobiography - 261 pages
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was the first great English philosopher and one of the most important theorists of human nature and politics in the history of Western thought.This superlative introduction introduces Hobbes' main doctrines and arguments, covering all of Hobbes' philosophy. A.P. Martinich begins with a helpful overview of Hobbes' life and work, setting his ideas against the political and scientific background of seventeenth-century England. He then introduces and assesses, in clear chapters, Hobbes' contributions to fundamental areas of philosophy:* epistemology and metaphysics, in particular Hobbes' materialism and determinism and his relation to Descartes* ethics and political philosophy, concentrating on Hobbes' most famous work, Leviathan, and the theory of the social contract it advances* philosophy of science, logic and language, considering Hobbes' theory of nominalism and his writing on rhetoric and the uses of language;* religion, examining Hobbes' analyses of revelation, prophets and miracles.The final chapter considers the legacy of Hobbes' thought and his influence on contemporary philosophy.Additional features:* chapter summaries* annotated further reading.

From inside the book

Selected pages

Contents

Life
3
Early Life
6
Science and International Relations
9
Political Views
17
Religious Mathematical and Scientific Disputes
20
Further Reading
25
Metaphysics and Mind
26
Conatus
30
The Properties of a Sovereign
130
Political Liberty
133
The Dissolution of the Commonwealth
134
The Value of Hobbess Philosophy
137
Conclusion
138
Language Logic and Science
139
Names
143
Signification and Denotation
146

Mechanism
32
Determinism
33
Mind
35
Imagination
37
Mental Discource
39
Desire Appetite Aversion
40
The Importance of Desires
46
Free Will
49
Conclusion
55
Moral Philosophy
56
Good and Evil
59
The State of Nature
65
Equality
67
The Right of Nature
79
Liberty
81
The Definition of the Law of Nature
82
The Deduction of the Laws of Nature
88
Laws and Propositional Form
99
Other Laws of Nature
100
When Do the Laws Apply?
102
The Fool
103
Conclusion
107
Further Reading
108
Political Philosophy
109
Persons
114
Authorization and Alienation
117
Sovereignty by Acquisition
127
Speech Acts
148
Definitions
149
Necessary and Contingent Propositions
152
The Value of Philosophy
153
The Scope and Definition of Philosophy
155
The Unity of Science
174
Conclusion
176
Further Reading
177
Religion
178
Revelation Prophets and Miracles
181
Faith
187
Religion Superstition and True Religion
189
The Causes of Religion
193
The Causes of the Decline of Religion
200
The Nature of God and Language about Him
202
Conclusion
208
Further Reading
209
Hobbes Today
210
Scholarship after 1975
216
Conclusion
237
Further Reading
239
Glossary
240
Notes
242
Bibliography
250
Index
257
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2005)

A.P.Martinich is Professor of philosophy at the University of Texas, Austin. He is the author of A Hobbes Dictionary (Blackwell, 1995), Hobbes: A Biography (CUP, 2000) and the editor of Philosophy of Language (OUP, 2000).

Bibliographic information