English philosopher (1588 to 1679) whose Leviathan (1651) grounds political authority in a hypothetical social contract among individuals fleeing a violent state of nature, in which life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. A foundational figure of modern political philosophy and of philosophical materialism.
Facts
Notable Publication Office HeldTutor in mathematics to the future Charles II, during Hobbes's exile in Paris 2 Held from roughly 1646 to 1648, interrupted by a severe illness in 1647. TraditionSocial contract theory; materialism 2 Connections
Associated With
Source Civil Society (Wikipedia)
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Source Veil of Ignorance (Wikipedia)
In Branch
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Influenced
Source Ship of Theseus (Wikipedia)
Traditions Founded
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Works Attributed
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Thomas Hobbes
WikipediaLead, opening sentenceQuote, Lead, opening sentence
Thomas Hobbes ( HOBZ; 5 April 1588-4 December 1679) was an English philosopher and political theorist, best known for his 1651 book Leviathan, in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory.
2. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and Informationentry: Hobbes's Moral and Political Philosophy
Hobbes is famous for his early and elaborate development of what has come to be known as “social contract theory”, the method of justifying political principles or arrangements by appeal to the agreement that would be made among suitably situated rational, free, and equal persons.
entry: Hobbes's Moral and Political Philosophy, Life
Hobbes’s moral philosophy has been less influential than his political philosophy, in part because that theory is too ambiguous to have garnered any general consensus as to its content.
- In Category: Philosophers
- In Branch: Political Philosophy
View the Source Ship of Theseus (Wikipedia)
WikipediaInfluenced: The Ship of Theseus, Hobbes's extension sectionQuote, Influenced: The Ship of Theseus, Hobbes's extension section
The 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes extended the thought experiment by supposing that a ship custodian gathered up all of the decayed parts as they were discarded and used them to build a second ship, then asked which of the two-the custodian's or the Athenians'-was the 'original' ship.
Civil Society (Wikipedia)
WikipediaAssociated With: Civil Society, Body textQuote, Associated With: Civil Society, Body text
Thomas Hobbes underlined the need of a powerful state to maintain civility in society.
Veil of Ignorance (Wikipedia)
WikipediaAssociated With: The Veil of Ignorance, Body textQuote, Associated With: The Veil of Ignorance, Body text
In Rawls's theory the original position plays the same role as the 'state of nature' does in the social contract tradition of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.
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