Leviathan: With Selected Variants From The Latin Edition of 1668

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Recommended: Thomas Hobbes Arguement On Monarchical System Of Government

Although Hobbes is a liberal thinker in some respects his ideas presented in the Leviathan resemble that of a monarchy. Hobbes asserts that the commonwealth can fall under three types of regimes “when the representative is one man, then it is the commonwealth a monarchy... assembly of all... a democracy... assembly of a part only... aristocracy” (L 19.1). However despite this, Hobbes proclaims that monarchic rule is superior since “the private interest is the same with the public” (L19.4). Hobbes posits that people within the state of nature require a Leviathan in order to rein since the state of nature is anarchic. He proposes that by forming a sovereign, the people must trade their innate and natural rights for safety and peace within the state otherwise they would have to submit to a life of “continual fear and danger of [a] violent death...solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” (L13.9). In his work Leviathan, Hobbes presents a system of government that is more of a principality than a republic in nature. However still the Leviathan does include some republican virtues. The following paragraphs will discuss Hobbes’ Leviathan and its resemblance to both republic and principality and finally conclude that the Leviathan does not differ from either governing style.
A principality can be defined as a state ruled by on person, where, as in contrast a republic is ruled by many.The Leviathan resembles a principality in so far that it has one sole ruler and initial decision maker; a monarch. The Leviathan acts to “Defend [man] from the invasion of foreigners and the injuries of one another… is to confer all their power and strength onto one man…” (L 28.13). Essentially the Leviathan is composed of the obedience of the people - wit...

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...erning is that it is governed by a monarchy - one ruler and therefore does not qualify as a republic in so far that it is not ruled by “the few.” Generally the Leviathan qualifies to be a principality. However, it’s intrinsic values of governing permits one to suggest that the Leviathan has republican values. In this sense this essay concludes that the Leviathan is comprised of both, more so a principality by definition (provided by Machiavelli) however it holds the values of a principality that Hobbes believes makes this monarchic commonwealth the most reliable and prosperous system of governing which stimulates survival and self-preservation within the state ruled by a strong monarch who protects his state.

Works Cited

Hobbes, Thomas, and E. M. Curley. Leviathan: with selected variants from the Latin edition of 1668. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co., 1994. Print.

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