The Two Gods of Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes on Religion and Politics

by A.P. Martinich

As well as being considered the greatest English political philosopher, Hobbes has traditionally been thought of as a purely secular thinker, highly critical of all religion. In this provocative new study, Professor Martinich argues that conventional wisdom has been misled. In fact, he shows that religious concerns pervade Leviathan and that Hobbes was really intent on providing a rational defense of the Calvinistic Church of England that flourished under the reign of James I. Professor Martinich presents a close reading of Leviathan in which he shows that, for Hobbes, Christian doctrine is not politically destabilizing and is consistent with modern science.

Genres: Philosophy, Religion

452 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

A. P. Martinich is an analytic philosopher at the University of Texas at Austin. His area of interest is the nature and practice of interpretation; history of modern philosophy; the philosophy of language and religion and the history of political thought. He is considered a foremost authority on Thomas Hobbes.

Reviews

[Cengiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hobbes' Leviathan is a beast who has multiple organs. It is a mortal God. Hobbes thinks that in state of war everyone is against the other and they fight relentlessly. In order to restore peace and security, subjects must make a covenant with their sovereign and obey the rules that issued by it. This agreement will provide the subjects with peace and security. Leviathan is actually is a mortal God. Even though Hobbes tried to reconcile Christianity with New Science of then just as Saint Aquinas
did it between revealed Christianity and Aristotle, he historically failed to succeed. Unlike what he intended he served the secularization of sovereignty.

[Luke Echo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed and interesting reading of Hobbes Leviathan.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very good. Martinich shows that Hobbes was, on the whole, an orthodox Reformed Anglican. He does this by way of historical scholarship, as well as careful exegesis of Hobbes himself. Martinich is an analytical philosopher, and so the composition of the arguments and the book as a whole is dry and lacking in colour. However, this doesn't matter too much. It's still good stuff.