Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes (5 April 1588 to 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher and political theorist, best known for his 1651 book Leviathan, which sets out an influential form of social contract theory and makes him one of the founders of modern political philosophy. He studied at Oxford and graduated from Cambridge in 1608, then tutored the Cavendish family and travelled widely in Europe, where he met figures such as Galileo. He returned to England from France in 1637 and lived through the English Civil War, which shaped his case for government by an absolute sovereign. Leviathan also popularised the state of nature, the war of all against all, and the laws of nature. His other major works include De Cive, De Corpore and De Homine, and the posthumous Behemoth of 1681. He also wrote on history, geometry, optics, theology and ethics, and translated classical texts.