('On the Citizen') is one of

Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered t ...

's major works. The book was published originally in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

from

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in 1642, followed by two further Latin editions in 1647 from

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. The English translation of the work made its first appearance four years later (London 1651) under the title ''Philosophicall rudiments concerning government and society''. It anticipates themes of the better-known ''

Leviathan Leviathan ( ; ; ) is a sea serpent demon noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, and the pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch. Leviathan is of ...

''. The famous phrase ('war of all against all') appeared first in .

Background

is the first of a trilogy of works written by Hobbes dealing with human

knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

, the other two works in the trilogy being ('On the Body'), published in 1655, and ('On Man'), published in 1658. Because of the political turmoil of the time, namely the unrest leading up to the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

of 1642, Hobbes hastily "ripened and plucked" the work which would systematically come last: . This work comprises three parts: ('Liberty'), ('Dominion'), and ('Religion'). In the first part, he describes man's natural condition, dealing with the

natural law Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts ...

s; in the second, the necessity of establishing a stable government is indicated. Finally, in the third part, he writes about religion.

Publication

was finished in November 1641 – before the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

(thus arguments repeated a decade later in ''Leviathan'' cannot exclusively be influenced by that war). The book was published in Latin in 1642; a revised edition appeared in 1647. It was translated into English, entitled ''Philosophicall Rudiments Concerning Government and Society'' (published in 1651).

John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He was a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded (often for the first time) numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England ...

testifies that Hobbes translated part of the work into English himself with such success that an intended translator would rather leave Hobbes to do the job;'' Brief Lives'' 1669–1696, ed. A. Clark, vol. II, p. 277. it is not certain whether this was indeed the case. The edition of the work by H. Warrender (Latin and English versions; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983) is at present standard.

References

External links

Full text
on Google Books

* {{Authority control 1642 books Books in political philosophy Books by Thomas Hobbes Ethics books 17th-century books in Latin

Background

Publication

See also

References

External links