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thehokx's review against another edition
5.0
I can’t knock his method and reason, but the conclusions that he draws are gonna be a no from me.
praalgraf's review against another edition
fuck reading part three and four of leviathan all my homies* hate reading part three and four of leviathan
* professor only assigned the first two because the rest is theology
* professor only assigned the first two because the rest is theology
theaurochs's review against another edition
3.0
A mostly rewarding slog. The first two sections of this work are incredible and deeply engaging; thorough examinations of statehood and from whence the powers of sovereignty are derived. We examine what these powers mean, how they can be used, how we develop social contracts to create states in the first place. It's absoluitely fascinating stuff, clearly argued and laid out with engaging metaphor and honest wit.
Unfortunately this is only the first half of the book. In the second half we take a detour into christian mythology and deep, deep biblical analysis. This goes so far off the rails of engagement I was struggling to stay zoned in from page to page, hoping beyond hope that we were about to come back around to some kind of point eventually. It does, but it's not nearly enough to justify the painful diversion we took to get there.
Strong recommend for the first two sections, strong avoid for the second two.
Unfortunately this is only the first half of the book. In the second half we take a detour into christian mythology and deep, deep biblical analysis. This goes so far off the rails of engagement I was struggling to stay zoned in from page to page, hoping beyond hope that we were about to come back around to some kind of point eventually. It does, but it's not nearly enough to justify the painful diversion we took to get there.
Strong recommend for the first two sections, strong avoid for the second two.
musicdeepdive's review against another edition
4.0
Quite a bit of dense theological writing in the middle, which is hard to parse through, but the thoroughness of the argument is staggering. I don't know if I "can't help but agree" with Hobbes as a result, but I respect the effort an awful lot.
goosemixtapes's review against another edition
read parts of this for a class & i am probably not going to read the rest of it. but it was... interesting? depressing? i don't know; it reminds me of machiavelli in that parts of it make sense, but i also can't imagine looking at the world this way all the time. less enjoyable than machiavelli, though, maybe because i read the prince in translation & this is straight-up seventeenth-century english.
(update: we are beating this man's ass in the classroom rn. professor said "anyone want to stand up for hobbes in this part?" and there were crickets. guy raised his hand and said "does he know society exists outside of western europe-" and the professor went "NO.")
(update: we are beating this man's ass in the classroom rn. professor said "anyone want to stand up for hobbes in this part?" and there were crickets. guy raised his hand and said "does he know society exists outside of western europe-" and the professor went "NO.")
rjstreet's review against another edition
1.0
Hobbes' logic throughout this book is horrifically flawed - throughout part one in particular, he makes arguments that are sound and then essentially makes statements in direct contradiction (based on his religious beliefs). While there are certainly some innovative ideas (for the time - social contracts, etc), the general tone and direction of the book left me feeling that it is better viewed as an object lesson in the dangers of blind obedience and theocracies than as a credible treatise on the proper function of commonwealths.
shelflife_ayda's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
3.5
you know what shoutout Hobbes he literally wrote the book on hating aristotle
cebolla's review against another edition
1.0
Potentially one of the worst books ever written. He repeats himself over and over, states opinions as facts, and his conclusions are disgusting. Maybe one day I'll be glad I read it (though I definitely didn't finish it), but that day is not today.