Hobbes turns Aristotle’s claim on its head: human beings, he insists, are by nature unsuited to political life. In De Cive and Leviathan, Hobbes rejects one of the most famous theses of the politics of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 bce), namely that human beings are naturally suited to life in a polis (city-state) and do not fully realize their natures until they exercise the role of citizen. Hobbes’s Leviathan influenced not only his famous successors who adopted the social-contract framework-including John Locke (1632–1704), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78), and Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)-but also less directly those theorists who connected moral and political decision making in rational human beings to considerations of self-interest broadly understood. According to Hobbes, political authority is justified by a hypothetical social contract among the many that vests in a sovereign (a monarch, a legislature, or almost any other form of political authority) the responsibility for the safety and well-being of all. First published in 1651, Leviathan or, The Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiastical and Civil develops a theory of politics presented in Hobbes’s earlier work (composed in Latin), De Cive (1642 “Concerning the Citizen”), articulating a political philosophy that views government primarily as a device for ensuring collective security. Leviathan, magnum opus of the early-modern English political philosopher, ethicist, metaphysician, and scientist Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679). SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.

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