Hobbes, Thomas (1588–1679)

Abstract

Thomas Hobbes was one of England's most prominent philosophers and political theorists during the age of the Enlightenment, as well as one of the most vilified personalities in the early modern period. He can generally be seen as part of two distinct revolutions. Politically, he was part of the English Revolution of the mid‐seventeenth century, writing tracts that supported a strong sovereign entity and opposed interference from either parliament or the church. Unlike a typical authoritarian figure, Hobbes's theoretical sovereign authority rested upon a covenant made between the sovereign and the people, an idea that was a precursor to John Locke's social contract. Intellectually, he was a part of the scientific revolution, corresponding with the likes of René Descartes and Marin Mersenne, and commenting in scholarly circles on the work of Galileo and Baruch Spinoza. His writings sometimes showed outright hostility toward both religion and the church.