Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Leviathan, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Nature, War, and Civil Society
Power, Common-wealths, and Monarchies
Religion
Fear
Reason, Fact, and Philosophy
Summary
Analysis
In the previous chapters, Hobbes discussed the similarities of Common-wealths, and he will now discuss the “parts Organicall, which are Publique Ministers.” A public minister is a person who is employed by the sovereign power to conduct some business on behalf of the common-wealth. A public minister may be given administration of the entire common-wealth or of part of it. A public minister that is given administration of an entire common-wealth is known as Regent or Protector, and such a minister may be employed by an “Infant King, during his minority.” In such cases, a Regent or Protector rules on behalf of the sovereign power.
After the English Civil War and the execution of King Charles I, Parliament elected Oliver Cromwell, a parliamentarian soldier and member of Parliament, to Lord Protector, England’s Regent, in 1653. Cromwell served as Regent until his death in 1658, at which time his son was appointed the next Lord Protector of England. Under the reign of Cromwell’s son, Charles II (the son of Charles I) was brought out of exile and restored to the throne as England’s sovereign power.
Themes
When a public minister is given administration of a part or province of a common-wealth, that minister is known as a governor or viceroy, and the power they have is dependent upon the will of the sovereign. Other public ministers are given administration of specific business at home or abroad, such as administration of a common-wealth’s “Oeconomy” (their rents, fines, and revenues) or militia (the soldiers, forts, armies, arms, and all things related). Other public ministers are given administration of the education and instruction of the common-wealth, and others are employed to serve as judges and represent the sovereign power.
The power given to any public minister is always at the discretion of the sovereign and cannot exceed or match the power of the sovereign. This way, all public ministers are held to the power of the sovereign and cannot act independent of the sovereign. For instance, if a minister is given charge of the “Oeconomy” (the economy) their power is limited to economics and does not extend to other areas, like education or foreign policy.
Themes
In cases in which a member of a common-wealth is tried by a judge and a controversy arises, their disagreement may be heard by another judge, as both the judge and judged are members of the common-wealth and subjects of the sovereign power. In such instances, the sovereign power may hear the case or appoint a second judge. If the sovereign power hears the case, their decision is final.
The sovereign power’s decisions are final because there is not a higher power to appeal to. If a subject disagrees with a judge’s decision, they can appeal to the power above the judge—the sovereign. As there is no power above a sovereign, there is no appeal to be made.
Themes
Public ministers employed by the sovereign power have authority to apprehend, judge, punish, and imprison subjects of a common-wealth. Public ministers who work abroad on behalf of the common-wealth are known as ambassadors. Anyone sent abroad by the authority of a private political body belonging to a troubled common-wealth is not a public or private minister of the common-wealth, as the author of their actions is not the common-wealth as a whole. Similarly, if an ambassador is sent aboard by a monarch for reasons personal to that monarch, the common-wealth is not the author of that action either.
The actions of a public minister are only considered the actions of a common-wealth if said minister represents the whole common-wealth at the behest of a sovereign. The authority a public minister claims is endowed in them by the sovereign power. If the sovereign power rescinds that power, a public minister has no right to represent the people, either within the common-wealth or abroad.
Themes
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