Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, Chapter 27 summary
Chapter 27 of 65 · Part 2: Of the Commonwealth · 23 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 27, Hobbes distinguishes sin from crime and explains how ignorance, mistaken reasoning, and passions lead people to break laws. He separates complete excuses from reductions in blame, then ranks offenses by their causes, examples, harmful effects, and circumstances, giving particular weight to threats against public authority.
What happens
- Sin includes unlawful intentions, but crime requires an outward act or statement that violates a binding law.
- Ignorance sometimes excuses, but ignorance of natural law, sovereign authority, or an unspecified penalty generally does not.
- False principles, misleading teachers, vanity, desire, and fear help explain why people commit crimes.
- Unavoidable threats to survival and the absence of legal protection can remove legal obligation and completely excuse an act.
- Premeditation, presumed immunity, public influence, and widespread harm increase blame, while misleading official conduct can reduce it.
- Offenses receive public or private classification according to whose name appears in the prosecution.
Free for 3 months
Get the full summary of Leviathan von Thomas Hobbes, free
- 200,000+ classics as eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and print and large print at cost
- Up to 5 readers in your home on one plan
Starten Sie 90 Tage kostenlosNothing to pay today. 0,14 USD a day in the first year, then 0,27 USD a day.
Quick check
What distinguishes a public prosecution from a private prosecution?
Free for 3 months
Get the full summary of Leviathan von Thomas Hobbes, free
- 200,000+ classics as eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and print and large print at cost
- Up to 5 readers in your home on one plan
Starten Sie 90 Tage kostenlosNothing to pay today. 0,14 USD a day in the first year, then 0,27 USD a day.
200,000+ classics to read, hear and hold
15-minute summaries today, eBooks and audiobooks as each book opens, and printed books, large print included, at cost.
Try 3 months free
