The Limits of Reason in Hobbes's Commonwealth explores Hobbes's attempt to construct a political philosophy of enduring peace on the foundation of the rational individual. Hobbes's rational individual, motivated by self-preservation, obeys the laws of the commonwealth and thus is conceived as the model citizen. Yet Hobbes intimates that there are limits to what such an actor will do for peace, and that the glory-seeker - "too rarely found to be presumed on" - is capable of a generosity that is necessary for political longevity. Michael P. Krom identifies this as a fundamental contradiction in Hobbes's system: he builds the commonwealth on the rational actor, yet acknowledges the need for the irrational glory-seeker. Krom argues that Hobbes's attempt to establish a "king of the proud" fails to overcome the limits of reason and the precariousness of politics. This book synthesizes recent work on Hobbes's understanding of glory and political stability, challenging the view that Hobbes succeeds in incorporating glory-seekers into his political theory and explores the implications of this for contemporary political philosophy after Rawls.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English philosopher considered one of the founders of modern political philosophy. His most famous work is Leviathan (1651), where he laid the foundations of contractualist theory, which had a significant influence on the development of Western political philosophy. Leviathan, as it is commonly known, is undoubtedly the most important and groundbreaking work of the 17th-century English philosopher, politician, and thinker Thomas Hobbes. Referencing and writing with splendid mastery, the author invokes the most feared biblical monster to explain and justify the existence of an absolutist State that subjugates its citizens. Written in 1651, his work has been a great inspiration in political sciences and, paradoxically, in the evolution of social law.

The political Works, written by Thomas Hobbes, described his views on how humans could thrive in harmony while avoiding the perils and fear of societal conflict. His experience during a time of upheaval in England influenced his thoughts, which he captured in The Elements of Law , De Cive (On the Citizen), Behemoth, or The Long Parliament and his most famous work, Leviathan. Leviathan, published in 1651, concerns the structure of society and legitimate government, and is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory. Written during the English Civil War (1642–1651), Leviathan argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. Hobbes wrote that civil war and situations identified with a state of nature and the famous motto Bellum omnium contra omnes ("the war of all against all") could only be averted by strong central government. De Cive ('On the citizen') was Hobbes's first published book of political philosophy. Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher who is considered one of the founders of modern political philosophy.

Hobbes's political theory has traditionally been taken to be an endorsement of state power and a prescription for unconditional obedience to the sovereign's will. In this book, Susanne Sreedhar develops a novel interpretation of Hobbes's theory of political obligation and explores important cases where Hobbes claims that subjects have a right to disobey and resist state power, even when their lives are not directly threatened. Drawing attention to this broader set of rights, her comprehensive analysis of Hobbes's account of political disobedience reveals a unified and coherent theory of resistance that has previously gone unnoticed and undefended. Her book will appeal to all who are interested in the nature and limits of political authority, the right of self-defense, the right of revolution, and the modern origins of these issues.

Throughout his long life Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) associated with some of the most celebrated thinkers of the age and witnessed some of its most dramatic events; it is therefore no wonder that his philosophy is regarded as among the most original and influential in Western philosophy. Motivated as much by Hobbes' horror of the violence unleashed by the English civil war as his materialistic belief in thought as a mechanical process, Leviathan (1651) states the case for complete obedience to an absolute government as the only way of bringing peace and security to society. The true nature of mankind is at the heart of Hobbes' political philosophy, and it is his uncompromising rejection of pre-existing depictions of mankind as the peak of creation in favour of a race naturally compelled to savagery which makes Leviathan as challenging and controversial today as it ever was.

Written during a moment in English history when the political and social structures were in flux and open to interpretation, Leviathan played an essential role in the development of the modern world.

Leviathan is a seventeenth-century work on what the author felt was a good structure for society and legitimate government. The book was written during the English Civil War, and argues for a social contract between an absolute sovereign and the subjects of a commonwealth. While the work was written with the social structures of the time as influences, it also addresses many questions regarding the elements of the civil society that are still debated today. These include concepts of ex post facto law, fair tax structure, and the difference between natural law and civil law, among others. This book rightly ranks among the top treatises on government and statecraft in Western Civilization.