Thomas Hobbes

Birth:

April 5, 1588

Death:

December 4, 1679

Place of Birth:

Westport, Wiltshire, England

Place of Death:

Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, England

Thomas Hobbes was a British political scientist and one of the important figures of the
Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a European philosophy that stressed reason over more
traditional religious, social, and political ideas. Enlightenment philosophers believed that reason
would lead to knowledge, freedom, and happiness.
During the time Hobbes was writing, a strong democratic movement was emerging in Europe.
People were no longer satisfied living under the rule of an absolute monarch. Hobbes believed,
however, that too much freedom was not necessarily a good thing. He believed that people were
driven by their own self-interests and not by the general good. In 1651, Hobbes published
Leviathan, in which he discussed the need for what he called a social contract. Under this
contract, people would give up their natural rights in exchange for law and order. Law and order
would be enforced by a strong monarch. Hobbes took a dim view of human nature, and he
supported strong government over individual rights.