Folio Society: Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

The philosopher Thomas Hobbes understood the devastation caused by the English Civil War and was determined to construct a blueprint for a peaceful society. He began his task by trying to explain the nature of human beings, the state and civilisation. Morality, he considered, was a physical, not a spiritual attribute, proceeding from our sense of self-preservation. Anarchy decreases our chance of survival and to avoid this, he explains, we must give up a portion of our freedom to a ruling authority, be it a sovereign or Commonwealth (the leviathan of the title). The sovereign’s power stems from this self interested agreement: while his subjects cannot overthrow him, he has no divine right.