Of Liberty and Necessity
About this book
The book has an active table of contents for easy access to each chapter. Thomas Hobbes is a great English philosopher and one of the founders of the modern system of political philosophy. He is in the row with the greatest thinkers as Isaac Newton, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Francis Bacon, and Jean Rousseau. Their collected thoughts has had strong influence on building the foundation of the United States and its endeavor of open society. In 1646, Hobbes completed and published his OF LIBERTY AND NECESSITY. It is regarded as one of great and well received works written by Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes’s view of free will in this book made him a rather notorious figure. Samuel Pepys, an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament under King Charles II, said “lay long reading Hobbs his OF LIBERTY AND NECESSITY, and a little but very shrewd piece, and so to sleep.” Hobbes discussed the relations between will and actions in the book. He further argued that actions and people could be free if they did not face external impediments to do what they would like to do. His conclusion was that the actions were caused by what we wanted but we did not generally control what we wanted. Thomas Hobbes expressed the last words with a great pride and optimism to our future "A great leap in the dark" in his final moments of life. He is forever remembered as essential enabler, reformer, and contributor for that great leap in the dark. His work has produced great influence on modern political philosophy. His view became widely recognised as the foremost philosophical voice and his influence has been felt in nearly every field of the humanities and social sciences. This book is one of the most important ones about political philosophy and power of will and actions by Thomas Hobbes, one of the greatest thinkers of modern philosophy on the planet.