De Cive
De Cive (‘On the citizen’) is one of
Thomas Hobbes’ major works. It was Hobbes’s intention to write on human
knowledge; when this project was realised, it consisted of three works:
De Corpore (‘On the body’),
De Homine (‘On man’), and
De Cive. Because of the political turmoil in Hobbes’s time, he set out to start with the work which would systematically come last:
De Cive. This work comprises three parts: Libertas (liberty), Imperium (dominion), and Religio (religion). In the first part, he describes man’s natural condition, dealing with the
natural laws; in the second, the necessity of establishing a stable government is indicated. Finally, in the third part, the most important statements are backed up theologically. The work preceeds the same
classical republican line of arguments as in much more famous
Leviathan. Also famous phrase
Bellum omnium contra omnes appeared first in
De Cive.
De Cive was finished in November 1641 - before
English Civil War (thus arguments repeated decade later in Leviathan were not influenced by that war). The book was published in Latin in 1642; a revised edition appeared in 1647. It was translated into English, entitled
Philosophicall Rudiments Concerning Government and Society (published in 1651).
John Aubrey testifies that Hobbes translated part of the work into English himself with such success that an intended translator would rather leave Hobbes to do the job (
Brief Lives 1669-1696, ed. A. Clark, vol. II, p. 277), although it’s still not certain whether this has indeed been the case.The edition of the work by H. Warrender (Latin and English versions) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983) is at present the best one available.
External links
De CiveDe CiveDe Cive
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