Thomas Hobbes
England, seventeenth century
Hobbes argued that a sovereign with broad powers can end a condition of mutual insecurity.
Historical context
Hobbes wrote amid seventeenth-century English political conflicts. He published Leviathan in 1651. Security and fear of violence structure his account of civil authority.
Overview
If rival bodies can each appeal to final authority, a dispute over powers may become a security problem again. Hobbes defends the unity of the sovereign’s essential powers and allows an assembly to hold them.
Main claims
Sovereign authority must be able to settle disputes in the last instance to sustain civil peace.
Undivided sovereignty
Dividing the sovereign’s essential powers undermines its ability to preserve peace.
Interpretation for comparison · Hobbes’s Moral and Political Philosophy · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Constitutional limits
The sovereign has no civil superior authorised to enforce a covenant against it.
Interpretation for comparison · Hobbes’s Moral and Political Philosophy · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Debates and nuances
Hobbesian sovereignty can reside in an assembly. Its relation to self-preservation limits what can be demanded of a subject.
The assessment compares only the positions documented in this entry.