Summary of Leviathan
Last updated: 2025-12-16
Categories: Home -> Summarized Books
What is Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan?
Leviathan, or the Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil (full title in English: Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil) is Thomas Hobbes’s masterpiece, published in 1651 during the English Civil War. It is one of the foundational texts of modern political philosophy and presents a systematic theory of human nature, the origin of the State, and the necessity of absolute sovereign power.
The title "Leviathan" comes from the biblical monster described in the Book of Job: an immense, invincible, and feared creature. Hobbes uses it as a metaphor for the State: an "artificial monster" created by men, more powerful than any individual, that imposes order and peace.
General structure of the book
Leviathan is divided into four parts:
- Of Man (On human nature).
- Of Commonwealth (On the origin and nature of the State).
- Of a Christian Commonwealth (On the relation between civil and religious power).
- Of the Kingdom of Darkness (Critique of superstitions and of ecclesiastical power that undermines the State).
Main ideas explained in detail
1. The state of nature
Hobbes imagines what human life would be like without government or laws. In this "state of nature": - All men are equal in capacity (physical and mental), enough so that they can kill one another. - Resources are scarce, so competition arises. - Men seek glory and power, which generates distrust. - There is no objective morality: the "good" is what one desires, the "bad" what one fears.
Result: a war of all against all (bellum omnium contra omnes). Life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." There is no industry, art, culture, or society because the constant fear of violent death dominates everything.
2. Human passions and the laws of nature
Hobbes is a materialist and mechanist: the human being functions like a machine moved by passions. - Main passions: fear of death (the strongest) and desire for power. - Although in the state of nature there is no justice, reason allows the discovery of "laws of nature" (rational precepts for preserving life): - Seek peace when possible. - Renounce the right to everything if others also do so (basis of the contract). - Keep the pacts that have been made.
These laws are eternal, but in the state of nature they are ineffective because no one can guarantee them.
3. The social contract and the creation of the Leviathan
To escape the state of nature, men enter into a social contract: - Each individual renounces his natural right to everything (the "right of nature" that allows doing anything to preserve oneself). - They transfer that right to a sovereign (person or assembly) who will act in the name of all. - The contract is among the individuals (not between people and sovereign), so the sovereign is not a party to the contract and cannot be judged or deposed.
The sovereign receives absolute and indivisible power: - Legislative, judicial, military, religious, etc. - There is no separation of powers nor inalienable rights that limit the sovereign.
In exchange, the sovereign guarantees security and peace. Obedience is absolute so long as the sovereign can protect the subjects. The only right that is not ceded is that of self-defense: if the sovereign orders your execution, you may resist.
4. Forms of government
Hobbes compares three forms: - Monarchy (preferred by Hobbes: more efficient, less factionalism). - Aristocracy. - Democracy (the least stable, according to him).
All are legitimate if the sovereign is absolute. The difference lies only in who exercises power.
5. Religion and ecclesiastical power
In the third and fourth parts, Hobbes defends that the sovereign must have total control over religion: - Interpreting Scripture. - Deciding doctrine and worship. - Preventing the clergy from claiming independent authority (he harshly criticizes the papacy and churches that incite disobedience).
This was very controversial in his time, since many saw absolute power as tyranny and defended the right of resistance on religious grounds.
Legacy and impact of Leviathan
- He founded the modern theory of the secular State: political power does not derive from God directly, but from the rational consent of individuals.
- He influenced absolutism (he theoretically justified monarchs such as Louis XIV).
- But also later libertarianism: Locke and Rousseau start from Hobbes but reject absolutism.
- His pessimistic vision of human nature and his emphasis on security as the principal end of the State remain current in debates about authoritarianism, national security, and public order.
In summary, Leviathan is the most powerful and systematic defense of the absolute State as the only alternative to chaos. Hobbes does not idealize power: he sees it as necessary and artificial, created by rational fear to avoid a greater evil.
To comment on or discuss this article
Click the link to access the discussions on the different networks