Hobbes: A Very Short Introduction

by Richard Tuck

Overview

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was the first great English political philosopher, and his book Leviathan was one of the first truly modern works of philosophy. Richard Tuck shows that while Hobbes may indeed have been an atheist, he was far from pessimistic about human nature, nor did he advocate totalitarianism. By locating him against the context of his age, we learn that Hobbes developed a theory of knowledge which rivaled that of Descartes in its importance for the formation of modern philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780192802552
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/29/2002
Series:	Very Short Introductions , #64
Pages:	168
Sales rank:	591,898
Product dimensions:	7.02(w) x 4.52(h) x 0.42(d)
Lexile:	1460L (what's this?)

About the Author

Richard Tuck is Professor of Government at Harvard University. He is the author of Natural Rights Theories (1979) and Philosophy and Government 1572-1651 (1993), and has produced editions of Hobbes's Leviathan and (with Michael Silverthorne) De Cive.

Table of Contents

Part I: Hobbes's life
The life of a humanist
The life of a philosopher
The life of a heretic
Part II: Hobbes's work
Science
Ethics
Politics
Religion
Part III: Interpretations of Hobbes
Hobbes as a modern natural law theorist
Hobbes as the demon of modernity
Hobbes as the social scientist
Hobbes as a moralist
Hobbes today
Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"Review from previous edition "lucid introduction to the first great English political philosopher."—The Times

From the Publisher