24 h 19 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 24 h 19 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What makes us accept a ruler’s power—and what happens when no one can keep the peace?
In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes builds his account of political power from the human body outward. Senses, appetites and fear lead him toward a stark question: how can people live together without turning against one another? His argument moves from what drives us to why we agree to be ruled.
Hobbes asks you to imagine life without a common power, where roughly equal people face a war of everyone against everyone. Against this danger, he sets the social contract and a sovereign with undivided power. Religion, protection and obedience all enter his account of what holds a commonwealth together.
What you’ll discover
- The body before politics Follow Hobbes from senses and appetites to the desires that shape our lives together.
- Life without a ruler Enter a thought experiment where human equality brings conflict rather than lasting peace.
- A covenant for peace Explore why Hobbes makes mutual agreement the foundation of a common power.
- The case for sovereignty Confront his argument that keeping the peace demands strong and undivided authority.
- Religion within the commonwealth Examine how Hobbes draws on the Bible in his argument about religion and rule.
Who will love it
This book is for readers who love big arguments about power, law and human nature, and for anyone curious where modern ideas of the state, the social contract and obedience come from.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Security begins with a common authority
- The mind begins with the senses
- Clear definitions make reasoning possible
- Without government, distrust becomes war
- Promises need power behind them
- People authorize one sovereign will
- Liberty remains where law is silent
- Religious authority must not divide sovereignty
- Follow causes and ask who benefits
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Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
by Thomas Hobbes · 1651
Hobbes pictures a world with no government, then asks what you would give up to escape it.
Challenging10–20 hours to readEnglish
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In short
Picture a world with no police, no courts and no government at all. Every neighbor is a possible threat, so you lock your doors, arm yourself on the road and sleep badly.
Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes at a glance
- Reading time
- About 13 h 45 min10 h 55 min fast, 16 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 196,000 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1651by Thomas Hobbes
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Your mind is nothing but matter in motion
Hobbes begins with a plain claim. Everything in the mind comes from the senses, and the senses are motion. An object presses on the eye or the ear, the pressure travels inward, and the heart pushes back. That push outward is what we call seeing or hearing.
Imagination is simply sense that is fading, and memory is the same thing seen as old. Dreams arise while the senses are numb, so they can feel as clear as waking life. Hobbes thinks Brutus dozed in his cold tent and dreamed of what frightened him most. Ghosts and witches' power are mistakes made by people who cannot tell a dream from a sight.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1651
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/leviathan-by-thomas-hobbes.
Hobbes, T. (2026). Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/leviathan-by-thomas-hobbes (Original work published 1651)
Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/leviathan-by-thomas-hobbes.
@book{hobbes2026leviathan,
author = {Hobbes, Thomas},
title = {Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/leviathan-by-thomas-hobbes},
note = {First published 1651}
}
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What is Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes about?
Leviathan argues that people need a strong sovereign to escape a state of constant fear and war. Hobbes builds this from his account of the mind, language, passions and law, then applies it to religion and the Church.
What does the Leviathan stand for?
The Leviathan is the commonwealth, which Hobbes pictures as a human-made figure larger than any real person. Its sovereign is its soul, its laws are its reason, and its peace is its health. The name comes from a sea monster in the Bible.
What is the state of nature in Leviathan?
Hobbes uses it for the commonwealth that provides peace and defense. In that condition people fear each other, may attack first for safety, and cannot build industry or society. He calls it a war of everyone against everyone.
The author
Thomas Hobbes
1588–1679 · English philosopher
Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher born in Westport, near Malmesbury, in 1588. He lived in England and spent several years in Paris. He wrote Leviathan, published in 1651, and other works on philosophy, politics, and geometry. He died at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire in 1679.
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