THE LEVIATHAN IN THE STATE THEORY OF THOMAS HOBBES MEANING AND FAILURE OF A POLITICAL SYMBOL Carl Schmitt Foreword and Introduction by George Schwab Translated by George Schwab and Erna Hilfstein Contributions in Political Science, Number 374 Global Perspectives in History and Politics @ Greenwood Press Westport, Connecticut » Londongc 153 Hey 999% Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication Data Schmitt, Carl, 1888- [Leviathan in der Staatslehre des Thomas Hobbes. English] The Leviathan in the state theory of Thomas Hobbes : meaning and failure of a political symbol / Carl Schmitt ; foreword and introduction by George Schwab ; translated by George Schwab and Erna Hilfstein. p. cm.—(Contributions in political science, ISSN 0147-1066 ; no. 374. Global perspectives in history and politics) English and German. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-313-30057-7 (alk. paper) 1. Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Leviathan. 2. Hobbes, Thomas, 1588~-1679—Contributions in political science. 3. Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679—Contributions in law. 4. Political science—Early works to 1800. 5. State, The. L Title MU. Series 3C153.H659S3513 1996 320.1—de20 96-3642 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Translation, introduction, and index copyright © 1996 by George Schwab All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-3642 ISBN: 0-313-30057-7 ISSN: 0147-1066 First published in 1996 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Printed in the United States of America ‘The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984). 10987654321 Contents Foreword George Schwab Introduction George Schwab Translators’ Note George Schwab and Erna Hilfstein Introduction Carl Schmitt Overview of Chapters I through VIL Chapter I Chapter Chapter I Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VI Appendix: The State as Mechanism in Hobbes and Descartes Index 17 31 41 33 65 79 91 105Foreword The translation of Carl Schmitt’s The Leviathan in the State The- ory of Thomas Hobbes: Meaning and Failure of a Political Sym- bol (1938) is a result of a year-long tutorial that I held at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The student, Dr. Erma Hilfstein, a noted historian of science, was intrigued by Carl Schmitt and offered to prepare a first draft of Schmitt’s study as well as of his article titled “The State as Mechanism in Hobbes and Descartes” (1937), which appears here as an appendix. Over a number of years I relied on Dr. Hilfstein’s familiarity with the sources as well as on her expertise with the computer to check and recheck footnotes and to prepare a number of drafts of both translations. In addition to thanking Dr. Hilfstein, I wish to ex- press my gratitude to my former assistant at the Graduate Center, Ms. Edwina McMahon, for her editorial assistance. Of course, the sole responsibility for the translation rests upon me. For grants awarded, which enabled me to visit a number of archives in Ger- many, I express my gratitude to the Earhart Foundation, to the Re- search Foundation of the City University of New York, and to the CUNY Conference of History and Politics. For the help extended to me while working at the Hauptstaatsarchiv at Diisseldorf I also wish to acknowledge Ms. Ingeborg Villinger who was then in charge of the Carl Schmitt documentation housed there. George Schwab