On the Citizen

Hobbes’s earliest complete statement of his political philosophy, published in Latin as De Cive nine years before Leviathan: men are naturally in a condition of war, natural right is the liberty to preserve oneself, and a commonwealth exists because subjects transfer that right to a sovereign whose authority cannot be divided. The argument runs in three parts — liberty, dominion, religion — and is tighter and more systematic than the better-known English book.

Why it’s on the list: It sits in the Renaissance and Enlightenment Political Thought section next to Machiavelli and Locke — the leg of the tradition that derives political obligation from individual self-preservation rather than from custom or divine order.

Where I saw it: On Brendan McCord’s Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, in the section on Renaissance and Enlightenment Political Thought, saved to Kyle’s “Books To Read” Apple Note. The full 211-entry transcription lives on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.

Connections

• Thomas Hobbes — the author.
• Leviathan — the 1651 English restatement of the same argument, also on Kyle’s list.
• Social Contract — the concept this book helped found.
• The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the list this came from.