Audiobook · read by volunteers
Leviathan (Books I and II)
Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
Read by Carl Manchester, hugh mac, Anna Simon, Sibella Denton, Gesine, Darren L. Slider, hefyd, Leon Mire, D.E. Wittkower, Nikki Sullivan · 32 chapters · 11 h 33
About the book
In 1651, with England still shaken by civil war, Thomas Hobbes published a book that tried to answer a frightening question: what keeps human beings from destroying one another? His answer in Leviathan is a bold one. Without a common power to keep order, he argues, life would be a war of everyone against everyone, and so men agree to give up some of their freedoms to a sovereign who can protect them. The book builds this argument step by step, beginning with the nature of human beings and moving on to the foundations of the state, with sharp observations about fear, power, language and reason. This recording covers the first two books of the work, which set out the theory of man and of the commonwealth, and which remain central to political thought.
Introduction
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English philosopher who lived through some of the most turbulent decades of English history. He wrote on geometry, natural philosophy and ethics, but he is remembered above all for his political thought, and above all for Leviathan, published in 1651. The full title, which speaks of the matter, form and power of a commonwealth ecclesiastical and civil, signals the scope of the book. Its name is taken from the biblical sea monster, used as an image of the state's overwhelming power.
Leviathan is traditionally divided into four parts. The first, Of Man, sets out Hobbes's view of human nature and his picture of the natural condition of mankind. The second, Of Commonwealth, argues for the necessity of a sovereign and describes the rights and duties that follow. This recording covers those first two books. The later parts deal with religion and Christian government, and they are not included here.
Few books in the history of political philosophy have been so widely discussed. Admirers prize its rigour and its vivid prose, while critics have argued for centuries about its conclusions. Whatever one thinks of them, the questions Hobbes raises about authority, security and consent have never gone away.
The recording has thirty-two chapters and lasts about eleven and a half hours. It was read by LibriVox volunteers. It is a demanding book, but the style is forceful and often memorable, and the argument is easy to follow once you are used to the seventeenth-century voice. A fine choice for students of politics and for general listeners alike.
Public domain
Thomas Hobbes died in 1679: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text