Leviathan

Main ideas

• Political authority derived from a covenant among equals.
• Security as the first condition of civil life.

Important themes

Reading context

Published in 1651 during the English civil wars, by a man who thought fear of violent death was the one thing every reader shared. The sovereign is justified not by divine right but by what life is like without one.

How to approach it

Parts 1 and 2 carry the political argument, and chapter 13 on the natural condition is the famous one. The later parts on religion matter historically but can be left for later.