Leviathan

"Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes is a 17th-century philosophical work that examines how society should be structured and how government should rightly function, creating a fact-based study of right and wrong. Hobbes makes the case for a powerful ruling force to prevent turmoil emphasizing that people agree to give up some freedom in exchange for protection and order under a sovereign leader. Opening with the idea of a constructed person, the Commonwealth, Hobbes compares it to a massive entity formed when people make deals with each other. Through clear and logical writing, Hobbes encourages the audience to consider the complications of what motivates people and how that affects the way society is set up.