Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, Chapter 18 summary
Chapter 18 of 65 · Part 2: Of the Commonwealth · 14 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 18, the argument derives sovereign rights from a covenant through which people authorize a representative chosen by the majority to secure peace and protection. It makes these powers inseparable, denies subjects grounds to depose or punish their sovereign, and argues that government’s burdens are smaller than the misery of civil war.
What happens
- People covenant with one another to authorize the actions of a man or assembly selected by the majority.
- The argument denies subjects the right to replace, accuse, or punish their sovereign because they authorize the sovereign’s actions.
- Sovereignty includes control over teaching, property rules, judgments, military affairs, appointments, rewards, punishments, and public rank.
- These essential powers cannot be divided or granted away while the grantor remains sovereign.
- England’s civil conflict illustrates the danger of treating sovereign powers as divided among different bodies.
- The argument answers complaints about unlimited government by comparing its burdens with civil war and explaining the need for defense payments.
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In this chapter
What to notice
The distinction allows moral wrongdoing while denying that sovereign actions violate subjects’ rights in the defined sense. It rests on subjects’ authorization of those actions.
Quick check
Who makes the covenant that institutes a commonwealth?
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