Leviathan [antikvár]

PREFACE No one can pretend that editions of Leviathan are now few or hard to locate. But they often represent editorial extremes. One extreme retains antique spelling, every odd use of italics or capital letters, and even the curiosities of seventeenth-century typography. The other extreme changes italics, punctuation, paragraph lengths, and in short anything (except the order of the words themselves) which the editor thinks will make the text easier to read according to the fashion of the moment. The normal reader will surely look for something between these extremes: something which reproduces as faithfully as possible what Hobbes actually sanctioned for publication, but without the accidental impediments which play no part in what Hobbes meant or what he wished to be read. I have attempted to provide such a text. It is free from antique spellings and printing conventions which had no significance even in the seventeenth century. It is authentic and complete in all other respects. The notes—philosophical, textual, historical, and biographical—offer information if it is wanted. They make a special effort to indicate where the thought and arguments of Leviathan may be followed in other of Hobbes's major philosophical works. The Introduction takes up some of the more obvious issues raised by Leviathan without attempting any grand assessment. A great philosophical text should be read with the new eyes of each generation, sharpened by relevant information, not directed by old judgements. The judgements and the overviews can be built into the picture later. The excitement of the ideas must come first. To facilitate references to and within the text I have inserted a new run of paragraph numbers for each chapter, as Hobbes himself did in his other main philosophical works. For the same reason I have put the page numbers of the original 1651 edition in the margins: a mode of reference used by a number of commentators. All the editorial material is new with the exception of two notes and parts of five paragraphs which are adapted from similar material in my World's Classics edition of The Elements of Law {Human Nature and De Corpore Politico). I am grateful to the work done by Richard Tuck in recording in his edition of Leviathan the variants in the large paper copies. As explained in the Note on the Text, these are incorporated into the present edition. I would like to express my indebtedness to my editor, Judith Luna, for