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
There are three different forms of common-wealths. When a multitude of people are represented by one person, the common-wealth is a monarchy; a multitude of people represented by an assembly of people is known as a democracy; and when only part of a multitude is represented by any one power, this is called an aristocracy. There are no other common-wealths apart from these, as a sovereign power can be only one person, a group of people, or all the people of a common-wealth.
Government is often broken down into other forms as well, such as an oligarchy or sovereigns thought to practice tyranny. Hobbes argues, however, that these other forms of government fall into these three basic categories, too, since an oligarchy is technically an aristocracy and any form of government can practice tyranny.
Themes
In common-wealths where a sovereign power has already been determined, the subjects can elect no other power, as that power would be contrary to the first power and reduce the people to a state of war, which is counterproductive to the common-wealth. Such an absurdity has recently been seen in England, were a monarch succeeding from 600 years of sovereign power was dethroned.
Hobbes more directly calls out the English Civil War here. The parliamentarians claimed they dethroned King Charles I to save the common-wealth of England, but Hobbes argues they only succeeded in destroying it.
Themes
It is difficult to compare the different sovereign powers, as they differ not in power but in how they wield that power. A monarch’s private interests are largely those of the public; however, this is not always the case in in a democracy or an aristocracy. Also, a monarch receives counsel from many different people, but the only people permitted to join a sovereign assembly are heard in an aristocracy or a democracy. Furthermore, a monarch’s actions and decisions are subject only to the fickleness of the monarch’s own human nature, whereas a democracy or aristocracy must endure fickleness from any number of people.
While Hobbes does not say it explicitly, the implication here is that a monarchy is the superior form of government compared to an aristocracy or a democracy. Hobbes suggests that individual subjects have a better chance of being heard when their sovereign is one person compared to common-wealths that are ruled collectively by a group of people. Hobbes doesn’t deny that any one government can be terrible at any given time; his argument is that a monarchy is less likely to act against its subjects’ best interests.
Themes
It is also impossible for a monarch to disagree with themselves out of jealousy or self-interest, but the same cannot be said of a democracy or an aristocracy, in which disagreements to can reach the height of civil war. Of course, a monarch does have the power to deprive any one subject of all their possessions, which Hobbes admits is problematic; however, the same authority resides in any sovereign power, not just with the monarchy. Hobbes also admits it is troublesome that an infant may come into sovereign power within a monarchy, and in such cases that power must reside with another until the monarch reaches the age of reason.
Hobbes does not pretend that a monarchy is perfect, and he contends that many things can go wrong in a monarchy, like a boy king who hasn’t yet reached the age of reason; however, he ultimately maintains a monarchy is the best option. Any terrible act that a monarch is capable of can be committed in a democracy and an aristocracy as well. Since all forms of government have the exact same power, a monarch does not represent a unique danger to a common-wealth.
Themes
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If a monarch does not have the right to pick a successor, or if the monarch dies before that successor is selected, the common-wealth dissolves and reverts back to a state of war. Therefore, the power of a monarch must exist in a line of “Artificiall Eternity” known as succession, which, in Hobbes’s opinion, is the greatest difficulty monarchies face. If a monarch dies without a successor, the people, who are now in a state of war, are incapable of electing a new monarch.
Hobbes is careful to call the line of royal succession “Artificiall Eternity,” as he argues earlier that people are not able to comprehend that which does not have a definite beginning and end. In order to elect a new monarch after the death of an old one (in the event a successor has not been selected), the people would have to enter into a whole new covenant and begin an entirely new common-wealth, which would void the previous covenant.
Themes
Succession is passed in a monarchy through words, and in the absence of words, succession is controlled by custom. For many monarchies, it is customary for succession to fall to the next of kin, preferably a child, followed by a sibling. It is lawful for a monarch to transfer their power to someone else, Hobbes says, as was the case with King James, the “most wise King” who tried to unite England and Scotland. Many objected to King James’s endeavor, although it likely would have prevented the civil war that is presently making both countries miserable. A foreigner can also become a sovereign power if a monarch marries a foreigner and allows the line of succession to naturally unfold, but no one argues this attempt as unlawful.
While it is not possible for a sovereign to simply give power away, that power can be transferred to another sovereign power in the form of a new covenant or through the line of succession. Hobbes suggests here that the combining of England and Scotland is in the best interest of both common-wealths. In 1603, King James of Scotland inherited the crown of England and ruled both Scotland and England (along with both nations’ parliaments) until his death in 1625. After King James’s death, power went to Charles I, also of Scotland, who was ultimately overthrown during the English Civil War.
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