Hobbes, Thomas. Hobbes: On the Citizen. N.p.: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
De Cive (On the Citizen) is frequently considered a rough draft of the Leviathan.
Written in 1641 it was not published and distributed widely until 1647.
Hobbes was in an odd position. He did go to Oxford where he learned how to translate from Greek and Latin. Hobbes wrote the first translation into English of Thucydides the Peloponnesian War.
He was also dependent for his employment on the Duke of Devonshire. So he was basically an advisor to a noble family. In this role, he was exposed to the most learned circles, especially when he accompanied the second duke of Devonshire to Padua.
Was Hobbes’s state of nature inspired by the Plague?
How does an animalistic man become civilized into a commonwealth that is unified and peaceful. What is required of man to be a citizen?
Hobbes’s approach is let’s begin at the beginning. How does a polity come into being?
There was an idea going around called natural law and also an analysis of power.
We are going to want to read Aquinas’ On Kingship before this.
