Why people recommend it
Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes is a foundational political treatise that argues for a strong, centralized authority to prevent the chaos, violence, and insecurity of the natural state of man. On Timcast IRL, Libby Emmons referenced the text to explain that the social contract exists primarily to protect private property and establish governmental order. Bill Thompson discussed the book on The Joe Rogan Experience alongside the works of John Locke and Montesquieu when examining the philosophical foundations of early political experiments. Alex O'Connor explained on Modern Wisdom that Hobbes wrote the tract as a royalist fleeing to France during the English Civil War, advocating for submission to an authoritarian figure to escape societal collapse. Toby Stuart mentioned on EconTalk that graduate students typically encounter Leviathan when studying dominance hierarchies and the necessity of social organization. Dr. Jamil Zaki cited the philosopher's cynical view of human life on Huberman Lab, noting Hobbes's assertion that life without a restrictive government is nasty, brutish, and short. Furthermore, John Mearsheimer analyzed Hobbes's theory of state formation on the Lex Fridman Podcast to describe how individuals escape destructive competition, while Lex Fridman and guests utilized historical political philosophy to contextualize modern societal anxieties.
Who recommended it
- John Mearsheimer Discussed
- Libby Emmons Discussed
- Bill Thompson Discussed
- Alex O’Connor Discussed
- Toby Stuart Discussed
- Jamil Zaki Discussed
- Lex Fridman Discussed
- Graeme Garrard Discussed
John Mearsheimer — 2 mentions
“It's what he calls the Leviathan. And that, of course is the title of his famous book.”
“Hobbes's view is that the way to get out of this terrible situation, where individuals are competing with each other and even killing each other, is to create a state, which he calls the Leviathan. That is, of course, the title of his famous book.”
Libby Emmons — 1 mention
“Just going back though to this idea of that I mean the entire reason that we have government in the first place if you think back to Leviathan and some of these early political thought philosophers the only reason that we have a social contract with the government is to protect private property.”
Bill Thompson — 1 mention
“You read Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan or John Locke or Montesquieu. All of them talked about this great experiment that was being set up”
Alex O’Connor — 1 mention
“Why does Thomas Hobbes write the Leviathan? Because he had to flee him being a royalist during the English Civil War. he has to flee to to France because of the English civil war and he writes this tract about how we should all submit to a to authoritarian dictator essentially”
Toby Stuart — 1 mention
“So um one is you know and let's go all the way back to you know Leviathan which we both probably read in in in graduate school but but but no one likes man in in in the state of n in his state of nature without so some sort of social organization”
Jamil Zaki — 1 mention
“I often think about you know one of the best encapsulations of a cynical view of Life comes from Thomas Hobbs the philosopher who in his book Leviathan said we need a restrictive government because left to our own devices human life is nasty brutish and short”
Lex Fridman — 1 mention
“The Book of Ecclesiastes states that 'it's all vanity; it's all meaningless.'”
Graeme Garrard — 1 mention
“he lived during the English Civil War and he wrote his masterpiece Leviathan in response to the English Civil Wars have traumatized him”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- An Inquiry concerning human understanding;
- Anointed
- Better Never to Have Been
- Educating Intuition
- Existentialism Is a Humanism
- Galileo's Error
Other mentions (6: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Here's an idea. Leviathan.”
“Do you remember Ecclesiastes 9:11? No time and chance happens to them all.”
“And if enough people—there's a whole book in the Jewish Bible called Ecclesiastes that basically makes this point!”
“Like nature really has it out for you, um, and if you're unprotected in a state of nature like it, you know, the old, the old thing is you know life and state of nature is, is is is what is it nasty, brutish and short, poor, solitary, nasty, brutish and short, Hobbes, yeah, exactly. And so so look technology,”
“I mean, there are verses in Ecclesiastes that talk about repetition throughout time, but there's always that same driving force and that element that created the Soviet Union and many other nightmares before and after it.”
“It is part of a famous phrase written by the 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes in his book 'Leviathan.'”