Hobbes's Science of Politics

"M.M. Goldsmith argues that Hobbes's political philosophy can best be understood as part of his scientific system. For Hobbes, all philosophy was based on Galilean, analytic-synthetic method. Hobbes used this method in his natural science, the model of a causal science. He extended this method to explain human nature and society ... Goldsmith discusses and explains Hobbes's accounts of human nature, the state of nature, the laws of nature, the social contract, and the sovereign state. He analyzes Hobbes's reviews of morality and religion, emphasizing their relation to his political thought. The discussion draws upon all of Hobbes's writing, clarifies the relations among his political works, and places his thought in its seventeenth-century context. The argument concludes with an attempt to show that Hobbes's science of politics has a structure similar to his natural science, and that Hobbes used his political science to explain the phenomena of society, namely, law, religion, and history."--Provided by publisher.