The word "leviathan" has come to mean the largest or most massive thing of its kind. Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan fits that description perfectly, as the audacious scope of his 1651 treatise on philosophy, politics and religion has few equals. It was at once the birth of political science, an indictment of the prevailing scholastic tradition, and a groundbreaking piece of moral thinking. Despite the grand scale of the work, Hobbes maintains a focused central purpose throughout. …showed first 75 words of 995 total…

…showed last 75 words of 995 total…entered, but will certainly vary from nation to nation. Man, who is motivated by selfish desires, will never find harmony in the State of Nature. Rather, he will find a monstrous, short existence in which he will be constantly afraid and in conflict. To escape this fate, man has no choice but to obey the Laws of Nature and enter into a Leviathan, a grand covenant between persons, with a protecting Sovereign at its head.