Thomas Hobbes
Ashley Johnson and Julia Robe
Early Life and Education
- Born in England in 1588
- He was abandoned by his father
- He was raised by his brother Francis
- Graduated from Oxford University
- He toured Europe with William Cavendish (junior)
- He expanded his own knowledge of philosophy
- Regular philosophic debater in Paris
- Developed a set of arguments called The Elements of Law
Life in Paris
- First area of serious study concerned the physical doctrine of motion
- He would single out man from nature, and show what specific bodily motions were involved in the production of a of sensation, knowledge, affections and passions
- He considered how men were moved to enter into society, and argued how this would go if men were not falling back into "brutishness and misery."
- He proposed to unite the separate phenomena of body, man and the state
- He built a good reputation in philosophic circles
Civil War and Hobbes
- Hobbes was a math teacher to Charles, Prince of Wales
- The exiled royalists led Hobbes to produce an English book to set forth his theory of civil government
- Soon Hobbes was more praised than any other thinker of his time
Later Life
- Hobbes eventually could never publish anything in England on subjects relating to human conduct
- Some of his works was printed in Amsterdam because he could not obtain the censor's license for publication in England
- For some time, he wasn't even allowed to respond to whatever his enemies tried
- Although these things happened, his reputation is still known as noble
- He is said to have uttered the last words "A great leap in the dark" before passing away