Reading Guide for Beal and Hobbes: Social Contract One. Beal, pages 89-104
1. What is the hidden agenda of modernity? What is its relation to the chaos battles of the creation myths in the Ancient Near East? 2. What is the historical context of Hobbes’ book Leviathan? 3. What aspects of this historical context does Hobbes identify with chaos? 4. How does he want to order chaos? 5. Beal says that Hobbes makes 2 links between his Leviathan and the Bible. Name the 2 links. 6. Beal starts the section on page 94 entitled Theophany by looking at the original cover of Hobbes’ book Leviathan.. How does the picture visually represent the way that Leviathan makes order out of chaos? 7. Leviathan was a subversive book for its time. 2 pieces of evidence: a) why does Hobbes’ advisor change the original cover? b) why did Hobbes insist on doing biblical interpretation? 8. How does Hobbes read Job? 9. Relate Hobbes’ reading of Job to why Hobbes (at least according to Beal) names the commonwealth “Leviathan.” 10. Beal notes that Hobbes’ Leviathan is an example of what in class have called the after-life of texts. But Hobbes’ text has had its own after-life! How is the term Leviathan most often used in contemporary political discourse? Modernity Leviathan 30 Years War
Two. Hobbes’ Leviathan
The trick with Hobbes is not to get lost in his archaic language. You are reading for the main point. Let my questions guise you to the main point. The answers to these questions are what you need to know. 1. Read page 23 carefully. (You can skip page 24—nothing interesting there . What is the Leviathan? Who makes it? 2. Note: Hobbes says that the pacts and covenants by which the Leviathan is made resemble God’s “Let us make man.” 3. Chp 13: What is the natural condition of man—and why? 4. Chp 14: What is the fundamental law of nature? What is the second law of nature? 5. Chap 17: Why does Hobbes think that there will be no peace/order without a sovereign who holds a sword? As you answer, be sure to also read page 142-3 carefully! Another way to ask this question about why the sovereign must have a sword is: why does Hobbes think the sovereign must be a “mortal god” or Leviathan (142)? 6. The heart of chp 31 is page 279. How does Hobbes understand the proper relationship of men to God?