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 a common-wealth of acquisition, a sovereign power is instituted by the multitudes, who fear death or injury without the establishment of a central power. This power is established because the multitudes fear each other, not the person or persons whom they elect to power. Dominion, or territories and people, can be acquired in one of two ways: either by generation or by conquest.
According to Hobbes, fear drives people to make covenants and common-wealths—fear of each other and fear of the violence of nature. A subject’s fear of the sovereign power comes after the covenant is made, not before. Thus, a subject fears a sovereign’s power, which is the collective power of the people.
Themes
Dominion by generation is also known as paternal dominion, and it is passed down from parents to their children. If one’s parents are part of a common-wealth, so is their child, and that child’s children, and so on. If there is no covenant, the power of dominion is with the mother, as the father of a child can only be known by a mother’s word. If the mother is herself the subject of a man who also fathers her children, the power of dominion is with the father, as he has power over the mother.
Hobbes’s understanding of paternal power places power with the mother, which dismisses traditional opinions of familial power that are often patriarchal. Hobbes is not the only philosopher to see women as the supreme paternal power, as the same view is expressed in John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government (1689).
Themes
Literary Devices
Dominion by conquest, which is through victory in a war, is known as “despoticall,” and it signifies a master with dominion over subjects. Dominion of the victor over the vanquished is obtained when the vanquished enter into a covenant, either through words or actions, and submit to the sovereign power of the victor. This is not to say that the vanquished are held captive as prisoners. On the contrary, the vanquished are allowed the same rights and liberties afforded to all subjects.
Hobbes argues that any subject of one common-wealth held prisoner by another common-wealth is not a subject of their captor until the subject willingly agrees to submit to that power. Thus, one who is captured is not necessarily conquered, as it is expected they would escape to save their life if given the chance.
Themes
Thus, Hobbes argues, it is not victory in war that gives the victor power over the vanquished—it is the covenant that transfers this power. Therefore, dominion, whether it be “Paternall” or “Desposticall,” is precisely the same. A family that is not part of a common-wealth is not unlike “a little Monarchy”; however, a family is not a proper common-wealth unless that family is of significant size. When any number of people are too weak together to defend themselves as a group, they have the right to defend themselves on their own, or flee if that is the better option.
According to Hobbes, it is not the type of power that differentiates paternal power from despotic power; it is the size of the assembly that contributes to the power of the sovereign. In a common-wealth, a minor child is subject to the sovereign power by way of their parents, mainly their mother. As the sovereign power of a minor child is their mother, they are held by proxy by the same sovereign power that has power over their mother.
Themes
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Now, Hobbes considers what Holy Scripture says concerning the rights of a monarch and sovereign power. The children of Israel said to Moses: “Speak thou to us, and we will heare thee; but let not God speak to us, lest we dye.” The children of Israel were completely obedient to Moses, not God. According to Samuel, God said: “This shall be the Right of the King you will have reign over you. He shall take your sons, and set them to drive his Chariots, […] and shall take your daughters to make perfumes, to be his Cookes, and Bakers. […] He shall take your fields, […] and you shall be his servants.” This passage, too, reflects the absolute power of the sovereign.
Hobbes frequently cites the Bible to prove his points and support his arguments, as he does here through Exodus 20:19 and 1 Samuel 8:11 and 12, both of the Old Testament. As Hobbes’s audience was overwhelmingly Christian, he appeals to what they know: the Bible. Through the Bible, Hobbes makes it known that the people of Israel were completely obedient to Moses as God’s representation on Earth, thus lending authority to his argument that the sovereign must have complete power over subjects.
Themes
It is Hobbes’s understanding from reason and scripture that the sovereign power—whether that power is placed in a monarch, a democratic body, or an aristocratic body—is as great as can be conceived by any one person. Life will never be without inconveniences, Hobbes admits, and a common-wealth is no different. The making and keeping of a common-wealth involves “certain Rules,” just as in arithmetic and geometry.
Again, Hobbes is attempting to elevate his political philosophy to that of mathematics and geometry—meaning Hobbes believes his philosophy to be infallible. If Hobbes’s theory is followed, he implies a successful common-wealth will be the product every time. Of course, this success includes certain inconveniences and can never be perfect.
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