Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury
Philosophy & Thought • Historical Archive • 🇬🇧 Great Britain • 9 views

Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury 🇬🇧

Thomas Hobbes (Known as "The Philosopher of the Leviathan")
English Political Philosopher, Materialist Metaphysician, Social Contract Theorist
Born 5 April 1588 🇬🇧 Malmesbury (Wiltshire), Great Britain
Passed Away 4 December 1679 Hardwick Hall (Derbyshire), Great Britain
Lifespan 91 years old
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Notice / Correction
"The condition of man is a condition of war of everyone against everyone. Life in the state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

Archival Overview

English political philosopher whose Leviathan founded modern social contract theory, warning that life without sovereign authority is 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short'.

Biographical Record

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) was born as the Spanish Armada approached England, famously remarking that 'fear and I were born twins'. Witnessing the horrors of the English Civil War, he dedicated his intellect to understanding the origin and necessity of political order.

In his 1651 masterpiece Leviathan, Hobbes conceptualized human beings in a prepolitical 'state of nature' where an endless war of all against all (*bellum omnium contra omnes*) makes life intolerable. To secure peace and survival, individuals rationally surrender their natural rights to an undivided sovereign (*Leviathan*) through a social contract.

Key Life Milestones

1651 CE

Publication of 'Leviathan'

Published his epochal work on the commonwealth, sovereign authority, and the foundational social contract.

1655 CE

Publication of 'De Corpore'

Outlined his complete mechanistic materialist philosophy of physics, motion, and psychological sensation.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
St John the Baptist Church (Ault Hucknall)
Hardwick Hall (Derbyshire), Great Britain
GPS: 53.1872, -1.3092
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