Contents
Introduction
How should Hobbes' Leviathan be read today? I would draw the auxiliary line of 'anatomy' there.
An interesting aspect of Hobbes' Leviathan is that it starts from an analysis of Man. In other words, Hobbes uses human anatomy as the basis for his political philosophy. In this case, it is important to note the standard of anatomy in his time.
Hobbes was friends with anatomist William Harvey (1578-1657)*1. In fact, Hobbes mentions Harvey in the section on sensory theory in De Corpore (1655).
Hobbes, Leviathan, 1651.
Part I. Of Man. Chap. I. Of Sense.
(Hobbes 1651: 3)
Hobbes begins the first chapter of Leviathan with the title ‘Of Sense’. This confirms Hobbes' use of anatomy as the basis for his political philosophy.
Bibliography
- Hobbes, 1651, Leviathan, Or the Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiastical and Civill. London. (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 2013).
- Hobbes, 1655, De Corpore. Londini. (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, 2008).
- Watkins, 1965, Hobbes's System of Ideas: A Study in the Political Significance of Philosophical Theories. Hutchinson, London.
*1:Watkins, Hobbes's System of Ideas, 1965.
