Thomas Hobbes was born on April 5, 1588, in Westport, near the town of Malmesbury, England. His father was an Anglican clergyman who was removed from office due to his violent temperament and lack of education. Hobbes’s early life was largely shaped under the guardianship of his uncle. He began his education in Malmesbury and later studied classical philology and logic at Magdalen Hall, affiliated with the University of Oxford. At the age of fourteen, he translated Euripides’ Medea into Latin. Upon completing his university studies, Hobbes became a tutor to the Cavendish family, a relationship that would last for the rest of his life.

Through his association with the Cavendish family, Hobbes was able to meet some of the leading intellectuals and political figures of his time. His travels across Europe gave him the opportunity to observe political institutions firsthand, particularly in Italy and France. During the 1630s, he met Galileo in Florence and encountered thinkers like Descartes and Gassendi in Paris. These intellectual exchanges contributed significantly to his ambition to apply the methodology of the natural sciences to political philosophy.

Philosophical and Political Thought

Hobbes’s philosophy constitutes a comprehensive system based on a mechanistic view of nature. His thought sought to explain human behavior and social order using methods derived from the natural sciences. This system is elaborated in four major works: De Cive (1642), De Corpore (1655), De Homine (1658), and most notably Leviathan (1651).

Leviathan is the cornerstone of Hobbes’s political philosophy. The work deals with subjects such as human nature, the state of nature, the social contract, sovereignty, and the necessity of absolute authority. According to Hobbes, in the state of nature, individuals are equal and free, but this also results in mutual distrust and continuous conflict. To escape this condition, people agree to a contract in which they relinquish their natural

rights and submit to a sovereign authority—the Leviathan—in order to live peacefully.

Political Theory and the Concept of Sovereignty

Hobbes's political philosophy is founded on the pursuit of authority and order. He maintained that societal peace and security could only be achieved if individuals relinquished some of their freedoms and vested absolute power in a sovereign. This sovereign’s will forms the basis of law. For Hobbes, law is the command of the sovereign, and justice exists only when it is defined by a political authority. Thus, law does not derive from natural law, but from the will of the sovereign that emerges through the social contract.

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Key characteristics of the sovereign according to Hobbes include:

• Possession of absolute authority.
• Indivisibility: all powers such as legislation, declaring war, and religious authority are united in the sovereign.
• Obedience to the sovereign is synonymous with fidelity to the social contract.

Critique of Religion and the Church

Within the framework of Christianity, Hobbes subordinated religious authority to secular power. He argued that the Church should act solely in accordance with the will of the sovereign. He criticized the Roman Catholic Church for contributing to the fragmentation of authority. In the fourth part of Leviathan, this view is elaborated under the section titled “The Kingdom of Darkness.”

Works and Influence

Hobbes’s ideas resonated widely across Europe, especially in England. However, his works provoked strong reactions during his lifetime, and some were banned from publication in England. His critical stance towards the Church and traditional authorities led to accusations of atheism. At one point, he was even blamed for calamities like the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London.

His major works include:

• Translation of Thucydides (1628)
• De Cive (1642)
• Leviathan (1651)
• De Corpore (1655)
• De Homine (1658)
• Behemoth (published posthumously)

Death and Legacy

Thomas Hobbes died in 1679 at the age of 91. Throughout his life, he developed influential ideas in politics, law, and religion that laid foundational stones for modern political theory. His legal philosophy, theory of sovereignty, and understanding of the social contract had a lasting impact on subsequent thinkers. He is regarded as one of the key figures who provided the theoretical underpinnings of the modern state.