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Thomas Hobbes on the Importance of History

Why did the ’most radical political philosophers’ start out as a lover of ancient works?
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Thomas Hobbes on the Importance of History
A portrait of Thomas Hobbes by John Michael Wright. National Portrait Gallery, London. Public Domain
Leo Salvatore
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We owe the Founding Fathers’ notion of natural rights partly to Thomas Hobbes, whose “Leviathan” is one of the most radical and influential texts of the modern era.
Frontispiece of "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes; engraving by Abraham Bosse. (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:1970gemini">1970gemini</a>/<a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en">CC0</a>)
Frontispiece of "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes; engraving by Abraham Bosse. 1970gemini/CC0
Leo Salvatore
Leo Salvatore
Author
Leo Salvatore is an arts and culture writer with a master's degree in classics and philosophy from the University of Chicago and a master's degree in humanities from Ralston College. He aims to inform, delight, and inspire through well-researched essays on history, literature, and philosophy. Contact Leo at [email protected]