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Leviathan Flashcards

Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan argues that political order rests on fear, self-preservation, and the sovereign's absolute authority. This deck covers his account of the common-wealth as an artificial body, sense and imagination, and his skeptical treatment of visions, witches, and spirits.

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Chapter 1 · Question

In Hobbes's analogy, what parts of the body politic correspond to the soul, joints, and nerves?

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Introduction4 cards
  1. In Hobbes's analogy, what parts of the body politic correspond to the soul, joints, and nerves?

    Hobbes calls Sovereignty the artificial soul, giving life and motion to the whole body. Magistrates and officers of judicature and execution are the artificial joints. Reward and punishment, fastened to the seat of sovereignty, are the nerves, moving every joint and member to perform its duty. He also likens wealth to strength, counsel to memory, equity and laws to artificial reason and will, concord to health, sedition to sickness, and civil war to death.

    Chapter 1

  2. What does Hobbes say the common-wealth is, and for whose protection was it intended?

    Hobbes says the common-wealth, or state (in Latin civitas), is an artificial man, created by art, of greater stature and strength than the natural man. It was intended for the protection and defence of the natural man. He calls it that great LEVIATHAN, and compares the pacts and covenants that first made and united its parts to God's Fiat, or Let Us Make Man, in the Creation.

    Chapter 1

  3. How does Hobbes reinterpret the saying Nosce Teipsum, Read Thy Self?

    Hobbes says it was not meant to license cruelty by men in power toward inferiors, nor saucy behavior by the low toward their betters. It teaches that because thoughts and passions are similar in all men, whoever looks into himself and considers what he does when he thinks, opines, reasons, hopes, or fears will thereby read and know the thoughts and passions of all other men on like occasions.

    Chapter 1

  4. What does Hobbes say varies between men, and what does not?

    Hobbes says the passions themselves, such as desire, fear, and hope, are the same in all men. What varies is the objects of the passions, the things desired, feared, or hoped, which individual constitution and particular education alter. Because dissembling, lying, counterfeiting, and erroneous doctrines blot the characters of men's hearts, those are legible only to him that searches hearts.

    Chapter 1

CHAPTER I. OF SENSE4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what is the origin of all thoughts or conceptions in the mind?

    Hobbes states that the original of all thoughts is Sense, since there is no conception in a man's mind which has not at first, totally or in parts, been begotten upon the organs of sense. All other thoughts are derived from this original. Sense itself is caused by external bodies pressing on the sense organs.

    Chapter 2

  2. How does Hobbes explain the natural cause of sense?

    Hobbes argues that an external body or object presses the proper organ of each sense, either immediately (taste and touch) or mediately (sight, hearing, smell). This pressure travels through nerves and membranes inward to the brain and heart, causing a counter-pressure or endeavour of the heart to deliver itself. This outward-seeming endeavour is what men call sense.

    Chapter 2

  3. What does Hobbes claim about sensible qualities like colour and sound?

    Hobbes argues that qualities called sensible are in the object only as several motions of matter pressing our organs diversely, and in us they are nothing but divers motions, since motion produces nothing but motion. Their appearance to us is fancy, the same waking as dreaming. He notes colours and sounds can be severed from objects by glasses and echoes, showing object and image differ.

    Chapter 2

  4. What doctrine of the Philosophy-schools does Hobbes criticize regarding vision and hearing?

    Hobbes reports that the Philosophy-schools, grounded on certain texts of Aristotle, teach that the thing seen sends forth a Visible Species (a Visible Shew or Aspect), whose reception into the eye is seeing; similarly an Audible Species makes hearing, and an Intelligible Species makes understanding. Hobbes does not disapprove of Universities but cites this as insignificant speech needing amendment.

    Chapter 2

CHAPTER II. OF IMAGINATION4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what is Imagination and in whom is it found?

    Hobbes defines Imagination as "nothing but Decaying Sense"—the retained image of a thing after the object is removed or the eye shut, though more obscure than in seeing. He notes the Latins call it Imagination from the image made in seeing, while the Greeks call it Fancy, signifying Apparence. It is found in men and many other living creatures, both sleeping and waking.

    Chapter 3

  2. Why does Hobbes say Imagination and Memory are the same thing?

    Hobbes argues Imagination and Memory are but one thing with different names for different considerations. When we express the thing itself—the Fancy—we call it Imagination; when we would express the decay, signifying that the sense is fading, old, and past, it is called Memory. The longer the time after sense, the weaker the Imagination, since continual change of the body destroys the parts moved in sense.

    Chapter 3

  3. How does Hobbes explain the cause of dreams and their relation to waking thoughts?

    Hobbes holds dreams are imaginations of those who sleep, proceeding from agitation of the body's inward parts, since the sense organs are benumbed. Different distempers cause different dreams: lying cold breeds dreams of fear, overheating causes anger and imagined enemies. In sum, he argues our dreams are the reverse of our waking imaginations—the motion beginning at one end awake and at another when dreaming.

    Chapter 3

  4. What does Hobbes say about visions, witches, and superstitious fear of spirits?

    Hobbes argues most Gentile religion and current belief in fairies, ghosts, and witches arose from ignorance of how to distinguish dreams and strong fancies from sense. He thinks witchcraft is no real power, yet witches are justly punished for believing they can do mischief plus intending it. He says such superstitious fear, if removed, would make men more fitted for civil obedience.

    Chapter 3

CHAPTER III. OF THE CONSEQUENCE OR TRAYNE OF IMAGINATIONS4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what determines the succession of one thought after another?

    Hobbes argues that thoughts do not succeed each other randomly: since all fancies are relics of sense motions, motions that succeeded one another in sense continue together afterward. So the next thought is always something that followed the same thing before, at one time or another—though which one is uncertain, since different things sometimes succeed the same perception.

    Chapter 4

  2. What distinguishes regulated from unguided trains of thought?

    Hobbes divides mental discourse into two sorts. Unguided thought is without design or passionate governance, wandering like a dream, though its coherence can still be traced. Regulated thought is governed by some desire or design, which strongly impresses the mind and keeps returning it to the end, as the precept Respice Finem advises: look often upon what you would have.

    Chapter 4

  3. What does Hobbes say about prudence and its certainty?

    Hobbes argues prudence is conjecture from past experience that like actions yield like events, as when one foresees a criminal's fate by recalling crime, officer, prison, judge, and gallows. But because observing all circumstances is difficult, such conjecture is very fallacious. More experience makes one more prudent, yet in its own nature prudence is but presumption; true foresight of things to come belongs only to God.

    Chapter 4

  4. Why does Hobbes deny any idea of the infinite, and what is God's name for?

    Hobbes argues whatever we imagine is finite, since all conception derives from sense, which never presents infinite magnitude or a thing unbounded. We have no idea of the thing called infinite, only of our own inability to conceive it. Therefore the name of God is used not to make us conceive him—he is incomprehensible—but that we may honour him.

    Chapter 4

CHAPTER IV. OF SPEECH4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what was the first and most noble invention, and who first authored speech?

    Hobbes calls Speech the most noble and profitable invention of all, consisting of names and their connection, by which men register thoughts, recall them, and declare them to others. Without it there would be no Commonwealth, society, contract, or peace—no more than among lions, bears, and wolves. He holds that God himself first instructed Adam in naming creatures, and Scripture goes no further on the matter.

    Chapter 5

  2. What are the four general uses of speech Hobbes lists?

    Hobbes gives four special uses: first, to register what we find to be causes of things present or past, and what they may produce—acquiring arts; second, to show others the knowledge we have attained, which is to counsel and teach; third, to make known our wills and purposes for mutual help; fourth, to please and delight ourselves and others by playing with words innocently for pleasure or ornament.

    Chapter 5

  3. What four abuses of speech correspond to its uses?

    Hobbes lists four abuses: registering thoughts wrongly through inconstant signification of words, deceiving oneself; using words metaphorically, in a sense other than ordained, thereby deceiving others; declaring by words a will that is not one's own; and using words to grieve one another. He adds that grieving with the tongue is permitted only toward those we are obliged to govern, and then it is correction, not grief.

    Chapter 5

  4. According to Hobbes, why is truth a property of speech rather than of things?

    Hobbes argues that truth consists in the right ordering of names in affirmations, so true and false are attributes of speech, not of things; where speech is absent there is neither truth nor falsehood. Error may occur—expecting what shall not be, or suspecting what has not been—but a man cannot be charged with untruth. He therefore urges settling definitions first, as geometry does.

    Chapter 5

CHAPTER V. OF REASON, AND SCIENCE.4 cards
  1. How does Hobbes define reason as a mental faculty?

    Hobbes defines reason as "nothing but Reckoning (that is, Adding and Substracting) of the Consequences of generall names agreed upon, for the Marking and Signifying of our thoughts." Marking is reckoning by oneself; signifying is demonstrating or approving one's reckonings to other men. He extends this to geometry, logic, politics, and law, wherever addition and subtraction have place.

    Chapter 6

  2. What is the difference between error and absurdity for Hobbes?

    Hobbes says error occurs when reckoning without words about particular things: we conjecture what preceded or will follow, and are deceived, though no impossibility was discoverable. Absurdity is when we reason in general words and make a false general inference; its possibility is unconceivable. Words that conceive nothing but sound are absurd, insignificant, and nonsense, such as "Round Quadrangle" or "Immaterial Substances."

    Chapter 6

  3. What causes of absurd conclusions does Hobbes list?

    Hobbes ascribes absurdity first to want of method, beginning not from definitions. Further causes include giving names of bodies to accidents or accidents to bodies; names of external accidents to our own; names of bodies to names; names of accidents to names; using metaphors and rhetorical figures instead of proper words; and using names that signify nothing, learned by rote from the Schools.

    Chapter 6

  4. How does Hobbes distinguish prudence from sapience?

    Hobbes says much experience is prudence, while much science is sapience; the Latins distinguished Prudentia from Sapientia, the former from experience, the latter from science. He compares a man with natural dexterity in arms to one who adds acquired science of every posture and guard: the former's ability is to the latter's as prudence to sapience, both useful, but the latter infallible.

    Chapter 6

CHAPTER VI. OF THE INTERIOUR BEGINNINGS OF VOLUNTARY MOTIONS4 cards
  1. For Hobbes, what is 'endeavour' and what are its two forms?

    Hobbes calls the small beginnings of motion within the body, before they appear in walking, speaking, or striking, ENDEAVOUR. When the endeavour is toward something causing it, it is called Appetite or Desire; when it is fromward something, it is called Aversion. He notes these terms come from the Latins, signifying motions of approaching and retiring, matching the Greek orme and aphorme.

    Chapter 7

  2. How does Hobbes distinguish Desire from Love, and Aversion from Hate?

    Hobbes says Desire and Love are the same thing, except that by Desire we always signify the absence of the object, while by Love we most commonly mean its presence. Likewise, Aversion signifies the absence of the object, and Hate its presence. So the same underlying endeavour gets different names depending on whether the thing is absent or present.

    Chapter 7

  3. What does Hobbes mean by Good and Evil, and what rule governs them?

    Hobbes argues that whatever is the object of a man's appetite or desire is what he calls Good, and the object of his hate or aversion is Evil; the object of contempt is Vile. He holds these words are always used relative to the person using them, with nothing simply and absolutely good by nature. The rule comes from the person, or in a Commonwealth from the sovereign or an agreed arbitrator.

    Chapter 7

  4. According to Hobbes, what causes laughter and what does much laughter at others' defects signify?

    Hobbes defines laughter as sudden glory, caused either by some sudden act of one's own that pleases them, or by apprehending some deformed thing in another and comparing oneself favorably. He says it is most incident to those conscious of the fewest abilities in themselves, and that much laughter at the defects of others is a sign of Pusillanimity.

    Chapter 7

CHAPTER VII. OF THE ENDS OR RESOLUTIONS OF DISCOURSE4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what is the final opinion in the search for truth called?

    Hobbes calls the last opinion in the search for the truth of past and future the JUDGEMENT, or Resolute and Final Sentence of him that discourses. Just as the last appetite in deliberation is called the Will, so the whole chain of alternate opinions on true or false is called Doubt, and the final opinion is Judgement.

    Chapter 8

  2. Can discourse ever end in absolute knowledge of fact, past or future?

    No. Hobbes argues no discourse can end in absolute knowledge of fact, past or to come, because knowledge of fact is originally sense and afterward memory. Knowledge of consequence, called Science, is not absolute but conditional: only that if this be, that is; if this has been, that has been.

    Chapter 8

  3. What is the difference between Belief and Faith in Hobbes's account?

    When discourse begins not at definitions but at another man's saying, whose ability and honesty you don't doubt, the resolution is Belief and Faith: Faith in the man, Belief both of the man and of the truth of what he says. Belief contains two opinions—one of the saying, one of the man's virtue. To believe in, as in the Creed, means confession of doctrine, not trust in the person.

    Chapter 8

  4. What does Hobbes say about those who call their own opinions Conscience?

    Hobbes argues that men in love with their own new opinions, however absurd, and obstinately bent to maintain them, gave those opinions the reverenced name of Conscience, as if it were unlawful to change or speak against them—pretending to know they are true when they know at most that they think so.

    Chapter 8

CHAPTER VIII. OF THE VERTUES COMMONLY CALLED INTELLECTUAL…4 cards
  1. For Hobbes, what two things does natural wit principally consist in?

    Hobbes defines natural wit as wit gotten by use and experience alone, without method, culture, or instruction. It consists principally in two things: celerity of imagining, meaning swift succession of one thought to another, and steady direction toward some approved end. Its contrary defect, a slow imagination, is commonly called dulness or stupidity.

    Chapter 9

  2. How does Hobbes distinguish good fancy from good judgement?

    Those who observe rare similitudes among things are said to have good wit, meaning good fancy. Those who observe differences and dissimilitudes practice distinguishing and discerning, called good judgement; in matters of conversation and business, where times, places, and persons must be discerned, it is called discretion. Hobbes argues fancy without judgement is not praised as virtue, but judgement is praised for itself.

    Chapter 9

  3. Which faculty does Hobbes say predominates in poetry versus history?

    Hobbes holds that in a good poem, epic or dramatic, sonnets and epigrams, both judgement and fancy are required, but fancy must be more eminent because such works please by extravagancy while not displeasing by indiscretion. In a good history, judgement must be eminent, since its goodness lies in method, truth, and choice of profitable actions; fancy has no place except adorning the style.

    Chapter 9

  4. What causes differences of wit, according to Hobbes?

    Hobbes argues the causes of differing wits lie in the passions, and differences of passion proceed partly from bodily constitution and partly from education. He rejects temper of brain or sense organs as the cause, since that would produce as much difference in sight and hearing as in fancy and discretion. The passions chiefly causing differences are desire of power, riches, knowledge, and honour, all reducible to desire of power.

    Chapter 9

CHAPTER IX. OF THE SEVERALL SUBJECTS OF KNOWLEDGE3 cards
  1. What two kinds of knowledge does Hobbes distinguish?

    Hobbes distinguishes Knowledge Of Fact, which is Sense and Memory and is Absolute Knowledge (as when we see a fact or remember it), from Knowledge Of The Consequence Of One Affirmation To Another, called Science, which is Conditional. The former is required in a Witnesse; the latter in a Philosopher, that is, one who pretends to Reasoning.

    Chapter 10

  2. What is the register of Knowledge Of Fact called, and what are its two sorts?

    The Register of Knowledge Of Fact is called History. It has two sorts: Naturall History, which covers facts or effects of Nature that have no Dependance on Mans Will, such as histories of metals, plants, animals, and regions; and Civill History, which covers the Voluntary Actions of men in Common-wealths.

    Chapter 10

  3. What are the registers of Science, and what are they commonly called?

    The Registers of Science are such Books as contain the Demonstrations of Consequences of one Affirmation to another, and are commonly called Books of Philosophy. Their sorts are many, according to the diversity of the Matter, and Hobbes says they may be divided in the manner shown in his following Table.

    Chapter 10

I.4 cards
  1. How does Hobbes define science or philosophy at the start of the chapter?

    Hobbes defines science, also called philosophy, as knowledge of consequences. He then divides it into natural philosophy, which deals with consequences from accidents of natural bodies, and civil philosophy, which deals with consequences from accidents of political bodies.

    Chapter 11

  2. What does Hobbes call the first foundation of philosophy, and what does it concern?

    Hobbes calls the first foundation of philosophy Philosophia Prima. It concerns consequences from quantity and motion considered indeterminate, and he treats these as the principles or first foundation of philosophy.

    Chapter 11

  3. Which sciences does Hobbes place under mathematics, and how are they derived?

    Under mathematics Hobbes places geometry and arithmetic. They are consequences from quantity and motion determined by figure and by number, and they sit within natural philosophy as consequences from accidents common to all natural bodies.

    Chapter 11

  4. How does Hobbes classify ethics, poetry, rhetoric, and logic?

    Hobbes places ethics under consequences from the passions of men. Under consequences from speech he lists poetry for magnifying and vilifying, rhetoric for persuading, logic for reasoning, and the science of just and unjust for contracting.

    Chapter 11

CHAPTER X. OF POWER, WORTH, DIGNITY, HONOUR AND WORTHINESS4 cards
  1. How does Hobbes define the power of a man?

    Hobbes defines a man's power as his present means to obtain some future apparent good. He divides it into natural power—eminence of body or mind faculties like strength, prudence, eloquence, or nobility—and instrumental power, which are means acquired through these or fortune, such as riches, reputation, friends, and what men call good luck.

    Chapter 12

  2. What is worth, and who determines a man's value?

    Worth is a man's price: so much as would be given for the use of his power. It is not absolute but depends on the need and judgment of another. Hobbes argues not the seller but the buyer determines the price; a soldier is worth much in war, a judge in peace. However high men rate themselves, their true value is no more than others esteem it.

    Chapter 12

  3. According to Hobbes, what makes an action or quality honourable?

    Honourable is whatever possession, action, or quality is an argument and sign of power. Riches, magnanimity, liberality, courage, and timely resolution are honourable; poverty, fear, and irresolution are dishonourable. Crucially, Hobbes says it does not alter the case whether an action be just or unjust, so long as it is great and difficult—honour consists only in the opinion of power.

    Chapter 12

  4. What is dignity, and how does a commonwealth show it?

    Dignity is the public worth of a man—the value set on him by the commonwealth. This value is understood through offices of command, judicature, and public employment, or by names and titles introduced to distinguish such value. Hobbes adds that in commonwealths the sovereign can make whatever he pleases stand for signs of honour, as when a king honours a subject with a title or office.

    Chapter 12

CHAPTER XI. OF THE DIFFERENCE OF MANNERS4 cards
  1. How does Hobbes define 'manners' in this chapter?

    Hobbes states he does not mean small morals like saluting, washing one's mouth, or picking teeth before company. By manners he means those qualities of mankind that concern their living together in peace and unity. This chapter examines how passions and opinions shape men's fitness for society.

    Chapter 13

  2. Why does Hobbes say men desire power after power?

    Hobbes puts forward a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, ceasing only in death, as a general inclination of all mankind. The cause is not always hope of greater delight or inability to be content with moderate power, but that a man cannot assure the power and means to live well which he presently has without acquiring more.

    Chapter 13

  3. What does Hobbes say felicity consists in?

    Hobbes argues felicity is not repose of a satisfied mind, and denies any Finis Ultimus or Summum Bonum as taught by old moral philosophers. Felicity is a continual progress of desire from one object to another, attaining the former being but the way to the later, because the object of desire is to assure forever the way of future desire.

    Chapter 13

  4. Why does receiving great benefits from an equal breed secret hatred?

    Hobbes says receiving from one we think our equal greater benefits than we can hope to requite disposes us to counterfeit love but really secret hatred, like a desperate debtor avoiding his creditor. Benefits oblige, and obligation is thraldom, which to one's equal is hateful. Benefits from a superior incline to love, since the obligation is no new depression.

    Chapter 13

CHAPTER XII. OF RELIGION4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what four things make up the natural seed of religion?

    Hobbes lists four: opinion of ghosts, ignorance of second causes, devotion toward what men fear, and taking casual things as prognostics. These seeds, shaped by different fancies, judgments, and passions, grow into ceremonies so different that one man's rites seem ridiculous to another.

    Chapter 14

  2. How does Hobbes explain the origin of the idea of incorporeal spirits?

    Hobbes argues that men, unable to conceive anything but the soul's substance, took it to resemble dream apparitions or reflections in a mirror. Not knowing these are creatures of fancy, they called them ghosts or thin aerial bodies. The opinion that spirits are incorporeal could never enter the mind by nature, since no imagination answers to it.

    Chapter 14

  3. How does Hobbes distinguish natural religion from religion by God's commandment?

    Hobbes says the seeds received culture from two sorts of men: those who ordered them by their own invention, and those who did so by God's commandment. Both aimed at making people obedient to laws, peace, charity, and civil society. The former is human politics; the latter, divine politics, with Abraham, Moses, and Christ as its lawgivers.

    Chapter 14

  4. Why does Hobbes say acknowledging one eternal God comes more from seeking causes than from fear?

    Hobbes argues that reasoning from an effect to its immediate cause, and onward, leads at last to one First Mover, an eternal cause of all things — which men call God. This comes without thought of fortune, whereas solicitude about fortune inclines to fear and hinders the search for causes, occasioning the feigning of many gods.

    Chapter 14

CHAPTER XIII. OF THE NATURALL CONDITION OF MANKIND,4 cards
  1. Why does Hobbes say men are equal in body and mind?

    Hobbes argues that though one man may be stronger or quicker than another, the differences are not great enough to ground any claim to benefit. The weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest by secret machination or confederacy. In mind, prudence is but experience, which equal time bestows on those who apply themselves equally.

    Chapter 15

  2. What three principal causes of quarrel does Hobbes identify?

    Hobbes names Competition, Diffidence, and Glory. Competition makes men invade for Gain, Diffidence for Safety, and Glory for Reputation. The first uses violence to master others' persons, wives, children, and cattle; the second to defend them; the third for trifles like a word, a smile, or a different opinion, or any sign of undervalue.

    Chapter 15

  3. How does Hobbes define war in this chapter?

    Hobbes argues war consists not in battle only, or the act of fighting, but in a tract of time wherein the will to contend by battle is sufficiently known. Like foul weather, which lies not in a shower or two but in an inclination of many days, war is the known disposition to fight during all time there is no assurance to the contrary. All other time is peace.

    Chapter 15

  4. What follows from the war of every man against every man?

    Hobbes argues that in such a war nothing can be unjust: where there is no common power there is no law, and where no law, no injustice. Force and fraud are the two cardinal virtues. Justice and injustice are qualities relating to men in society, not solitude. There is also no propriety, no mine and thine distinct, only what each can get and keep.

    Chapter 15

CHAPTER XIV. OF THE FIRST AND SECOND NATURALL LAWES, AND OF…4 cards
  1. How does Hobbes distinguish a law of nature from the right of nature?

    Hobbes defines the right of nature as the liberty each man has to use his own power for self-preservation, doing whatever his judgment deems aptest. A law of nature, by contrast, is a precept found out by reason forbidding what is destructive of life. He insists right consists in liberty to do or forbear, while law binds to one of them, differing as obligation and liberty.

    Chapter 16

  2. What is Hobbes's first and fundamental law of nature?

    The first and fundamental law of nature is "to seek Peace, and follow it," as far as a man has hope of obtaining it. Its second branch sums up the right of nature: by all means we can, to defend ourselves. So reason commands men to endeavor peace, but when peace cannot be had, they may seek and use all helps and advantages of war.

    Chapter 16

  3. What is Hobbes's second law of nature, and when does it obligate?

    The second law is that a man be willing, when others are so too, to lay down his right to all things as far as necessary for peace and self-defense, contenting himself with as much liberty against others as he allows them against himself. If others will not lay down their right, no reason exists to divest oneself, since that exposes oneself to prey rather than disposing to peace.

    Chapter 16

  4. Which rights does Hobbes say cannot be transferred or renounced?

    Hobbes argues some rights cannot be abandoned by any words or signs, since voluntary acts aim at some good to oneself. A man cannot lay down the right of resisting those who assault him by force to take his life, nor rights against wounds, chains, and imprisonment. If words seem to despoil a man of the end for which they were intended, he is not understood to mean them.

    Chapter 16

CHAPTER XV. OF OTHER LAWES OF NATURE4 cards
  1. For Hobbes, what is the definition of injustice, and what is its origin?

    Hobbes defines injustice as no other than the not performance of covenant. Justice originates in the third law of nature, that men perform their covenants made, without which covenants are empty words. Where no covenant has preceded, every man has right to everything, so no action can be unjust. Once a covenant is made, breaking it is unjust; whatever is not unjust is just.

    Chapter 17

  2. Why does Hobbes say justice cannot actually exist before a commonwealth is erected?

    Hobbes argues that covenants of mutual trust are invalid where there is fear of non-performance, as in the natural condition of war. Before the names just and unjust can have place, there must be a coercive power to compel performance by terror of punishment greater than the benefit of breach, and to secure property. Since no such power exists before a commonwealth, nothing is unjust there.

    Chapter 17

  3. How does Hobbes answer the Foole who claims breaking covenants can be reasonable when it benefits you?

    Hobbes says this specious reasoning is false. The question concerns cases where one party has performed or a power compels performance. He who breaks covenant declares he may reasonably deceive helpers, so he cannot reasonably expect safety from society, only from his own single power. If cast out he perishes; if kept, it is by others' unforeseeable errors, against his own preservation. Keeping covenant is therefore a rule of reason.

    Chapter 17

  4. What distinction does Hobbes draw between justice of men and justice of actions?

    Attributed to men, just and unjust signify conformity or inconformity of manners to reason: a just man takes all care his actions be just, an unjust man neglects it. Attributed to actions, they signify conformity of particular actions to reason. A righteous man does not lose that title by a few unjust actions from sudden passion or mistake, nor an unrighteous man gain it by fearful compliance. Justice of actions makes men guiltless or guilty, not just.

    Chapter 17

CHAPTER XVI. OF PERSONS, AUTHORS, AND THINGS PERSONATED4 cards
  1. For Hobbes, what distinguishes a natural person from an artificial person?

    A natural person is one whose words and actions are considered as his own. An artificial or feigned person is one whose words and actions are considered as representing another man or thing, to whom they are attributed, whether truly or by fiction. Hobbes derives the term from the Latin persona, a stage mask or disguise later applied to any representer of speech and action.

    Chapter 18

  2. In Hobbes's terms, what is the difference between an actor and an author?

    The actor is the artificial person whose words and actions are owned by another. The author is the one who owns those words and actions, so the actor acts by authority. Hobbes notes that what is called an owner of goods is called an author of actions, and the right of doing an action is called authority, meaning a right to act granted by commission or licence.

    Chapter 18

  3. When does a covenant made by an actor bind the author?

    When the actor makes a covenant by authority, he binds the author as if the author had made it himself, subjecting him to all its consequences, so far as the commission extends but no farther. One who covenants with an actor without knowing his authority does so at his own peril, since no man is obliged by a covenant of which he is not author.

    Chapter 18

  4. How does Hobbes explain a multitude becoming one person?

    A multitude becomes one person when represented by one man or person, with the consent of each member in particular. It is the unity of the representer, not of the represented, that makes the person one. Each member is an author of what the representative says or does, owning those actions if authority was given without limit, or only as far as the commission allows.

    Chapter 18

CHAPTER XVII. OF THE CAUSES, GENERATION, AND DEFINITION OF A3 cards
  1. Why are covenants without the sword merely words?

    The laws of nature, such as justice, equity, modesty and mercy, are contrary to natural passions that carry us to partiality, pride and revenge unless some power causes them to be observed. Covenants without the sword are but words and of no strength to secure a man. Without a sufficient power, every man may lawfully rely on his own strength against all others.

    Chapter 19

  2. How does Hobbes explain why bees and ants live socially without coercive power?

    Hobbes gives several reasons: men compete for honour and dignity, breeding envy and war; the common good differs from the private for men, who relish only what is eminent; men think themselves wiser and strive to reform; men use words to make good appear evil and evil good; men distinguish injury from damage and grow troublesome at ease; and men's agreement is by covenant, artificial, not natural.

    Chapter 19

  3. How is a commonwealth generated and defined?

    It is generated by conferring all power and strength upon one man or assembly, reducing all wills by plurality of voices to one will, with each person authorizing his actions concerning common peace and safety. This real unity, made by covenant of every man with every man, creates the commonwealth, or civitas, defined as one person whose acts a great multitude have made themselves author.

    Chapter 19

CHAPTER XVIII. OF THE RIGHTS OF SOVERAIGNES BY INSTITUTION4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what makes a commonwealth 'instituted'?

    Hobbes says a commonwealth is instituted when a multitude agrees and covenants, every one with every one, that whatever man or assembly is given the right by the major part to present the person of them all, every one—whether he voted for it or against it—shall authorise all that representative's actions and judgements as if they were his own, to live peaceably and be protected from other men.

    Chapter 20

  2. Why can subjects not lawfully depose their sovereign or make a new covenant?

    Because by covenant they are bound, every man to every man, to own the sovereign's actions; a new covenant of obedience to another without his permission breaks that covenant, and deposing him takes what is his own—both injustice. If the would-be deposer is killed for the attempt, he is author of his own punishment. Hobbes also rejects pretended covenants with God, since God speaks only through the sovereign.

    Chapter 20

  3. Why does Hobbes say the sovereign cannot breach covenant or be punished by subjects?

    The sovereign's right is given by covenant of the subjects with one another, not by the sovereign with them; he makes no prior covenant, since the multitude is not yet one person and separate covenants would be void once he holds sovereignty. With no judge of alleged breach, it returns to the sword. Since each subject is author of the sovereign's acts, punishing him punishes oneself, which is impossible.

    Chapter 20

  4. What does Hobbes say about the sovereign's power over doctrines and opinions?

    Hobbes argues it is annexed to sovereignty to judge which opinions and doctrines conduce to peace, how far men may speak to multitudes, and who examines books before publication, because actions proceed from opinions. He says doctrine repugnant to peace cannot be true, and though sudden introduction of new truth may awake war, it does not break peace. The author argues this judgment is necessary to prevent discord and civil war.

    Chapter 20

CHAPTER XIX. OF THE SEVERALL KINDS OF COMMON-WEALTH BY…4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, how many kinds of commonwealth can exist, and what are they?

    Hobbes argues there can be only three kinds, because sovereignty must be held by one man, by an assembly of all, or by an assembly of a part. One man holds it in monarchy; an assembly of all who will come together is democracy or popular commonwealth; an assembly of only a part is aristocracy. No other kind is possible since the sovereign power is indivisible and must be held entire.

    Chapter 21

  2. What does Hobbes say about the terms tyranny and oligarchy?

    Hobbes argues tyranny and oligarchy are not names of different forms of government but of the same forms misliked. Those discontented under monarchy call it tyranny; those displeased with aristocracy call it oligarchy; those grieved under democracy call it anarchy, meaning want of government. He contends government is not one kind when liked and another when misliked or oppressive.

    Chapter 21

  3. Why does Hobbes say erecting a second general representative is dangerous?

    Hobbes argues that where a sovereign power already exists, no other representative of the same people may exist except for particular ends limited by the sovereign. Otherwise two sovereigns are erected, each person is represented by two actors who oppose each other, and the indivisible power is divided, reducing the multitude to the condition of war contrary to the end of all sovereignty.

    Chapter 21

  4. What is Hobbes's main argument for monarchy over assembly government?

    Hobbes argues the three forms differ not in power but in aptitude to produce peace and security. In monarchy the private interest of the sovereign is the same as the public interest, since a king's riches, power, and honor arise only from his subjects' strength and reputation. In democracy or aristocracy, public prosperity contributes less to a corrupt or ambitious man's private fortune than treacherous advice or civil war.

    Chapter 21

CHAPTER XX. OF DOMINION PATERNALL AND DESPOTICALL4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what distinguishes sovereignty by acquisition from sovereignty by institution?

    Hobbes says they differ only in motive: those who institute a sovereign do so for fear of one another, not of the sovereign himself, while in acquisition men subject themselves to the one they fear. In both cases fear is the motive, which Hobbes notes against those who claim covenants made from fear of death are void.

    Chapter 22

  2. For Hobbes, what actually grounds a master's dominion over a servant taken in war?

    Not the victory itself but the vanquished man's own covenant: he promises, in words or sufficient signs, that so long as his life and bodily liberty are allowed, the victor may use them at his pleasure. Only then is he a servant. A captive kept in prison or bonds is a slave with no obligation and may justly break free.

    Chapter 22

  3. In the state of mere nature, with no matrimonial laws, who holds paternal dominion over a child?

    Hobbes argues dominion comes from the child's consent, not generation, since both parents equally generate and no one can obey two masters. Without a contract between the parents, dominion lies with the mother: only she can declare the father, and the infant is first in her power to nourish or expose. If she exposes it and another nourishes it, dominion is his.

    Chapter 22

  4. Why does Hobbes deny that a family is properly a commonwealth?

    A great family outside any commonwealth is, as to sovereign rights, a little monarchy, whether of a man with children, servants, or both, with the father or master as sovereign. Yet it is not properly a commonwealth unless its own numbers or opportunities make it unable to be subdued without hazard of war. If too weak to defend itself united, each person may save himself by flight or submission.

    Chapter 22

CHAPTER XXI. OF THE LIBERTY OF SUBJECTS4 cards
  1. How does Hobbes define liberty or freedom in this chapter?

    Hobbes defines liberty as the absence of external impediments to motion, applicable to irrational and inanimate creatures as well as rational ones. When the impediment lies in the thing's own constitution, we say it lacks the power to move, not the liberty—as when a stone lies still or a sick man is fastened to his bed.

    Chapter 23

  2. According to Hobbes, are fear and liberty compatible?

    Yes. Hobbes argues fear and liberty are consistent: a man who throws his goods into the sea for fear the ship will sink does so willingly and could refuse. Likewise, paying a debt only for fear of imprisonment is the action of a free man, since no one hindered him from keeping the money. Actions done for fear of law are still free actions.

    Chapter 23

  3. Where does Hobbes locate the liberty of subjects?

    Hobbes argues the liberty of subjects lies only in those things the sovereign has left unregulated by law—such as buying and selling, contracting, choosing one's abode, diet, trade, and how to raise children. Since no commonwealth can regulate all actions and words, whatever the laws pass over leaves men free to follow their own reason.

    Chapter 23

  4. What does Hobbes say about the liberty praised by Greek and Roman writers?

    The author argues that the liberty celebrated in Greek and Roman histories and philosophy is not the liberty of particular men but of commonwealths—equivalent to what each man would have with no civil laws at all. The Athenians and Romans were free as states, not as individuals free to resist their own representative. Hobbes claims this misreading breeds sedition.

    Chapter 23

CHAPTER XXII. OF SYSTEMES SUBJECT, POLITICALL, AND PRIVATE4 cards
  1. How does Hobbes divide systems into regular and irregular?

    Hobbes defines a system as any number of men joined in one interest or business. Regular systems have one man or assembly constituted as representative of the whole; all others are irregular. Regular systems are either absolute and independent (only commonwealths) or dependent, subordinate to a sovereign power. Dependent systems are then split into political (created by sovereign authority) and private (constituted by subjects among themselves or by foreign authority).

    Chapter 24

  2. What limits the power of a representative in a body politic?

    The author argues the representative's power in a body politic is always limited, and the sovereign power prescribes those limits, since unlimited power is absolute sovereignty. The bounds are known from two things: the body's writ or letters from the sovereign, and the law of the commonwealth. Where the letters are silent, ordinary law determines what the representative may lawfully do.

    Chapter 24

  3. If a one-man representative borrows money unwarranted by letters or law, who owes it?

    Hobbes holds the debt is the representative's own: no member is obliged to pay, because the lender, a stranger to the letters, understands only the engaged representer as debtor. He must pay from the common stock if any, otherwise from his own estate. The same applies to debt by contract or mulct. If the representative is an assembly, only those who voted for the borrowing or contract are liable.

    Chapter 24

  4. When may a member lawfully protest an assembly's decree, and when not?

    In subordinate bodies politic, Hobbes says it is sometimes not only lawful but expedient for a particular man to protest openly against the representative assembly's decrees and have his dissent registered, since otherwise he may be obliged to pay debts or answer for crimes of others. But in a sovereign assembly that liberty is taken away, because protesting there denies its sovereignty.

    Chapter 24

CHAPTER XXIII. OF THE PUBLIQUE MINISTERS OF SOVERAIGN POWER4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what distinguishes a publique minister from other servants of the sovereign?

    A publique minister is employed by the sovereign with authority to represent the person of the common-wealth in that employment. Servants who serve the sovereign only in his natural capacity—ushers, sergeants, stewards, chamberlains—are not publique ministers, since they serve the man or assembly, not the political business.

    Chapter 25

  2. What limits the obedience owed to a protector, viceroy, or governor acting for the sovereign?

    Subjects are obliged to obey only ordinances and commands given in the sovereign's name and not incompatible with the sovereign's power. Such ministers have no right but what depends on the sovereign's will, and no commission transfers sovereignty without express and perspicuous words to that purpose.

    Chapter 25

  3. How does Hobbes classify those with authority to teach the people their duties?

    They are publique ministers: ministers because they act not by their own authority but another's, and publique because they act by the sovereign's authority. Hobbes argues only the monarch or sovereign assembly has immediate authority from God to teach; all others receive power from God and their sovereign, as Dei Gratia & Regis.

    Chapter 25

  4. Why does Hobbes say a soldier without command does not represent the common-wealth?

    Because every one that hath command represents the common-wealth only to those whom he commands; a soldier without command has none to represent it to. Those with authority over the militia—custody of arms, forts, ports, levying and paying soldiers—are publique ministers.

    Chapter 25

CHAPTER XXIV. OF THE NUTRITION, AND PROCREATION OF A…4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what does the distribution of nourishment (Propriety) consist in, and who holds this power?

    Hobbes defines distribution as the constitution of Mine, Thine, and His—in one word, Propriety. It belongs in all kinds of commonwealth to the sovereign power, because without a commonwealth there is perpetual war and everything is held only by force, which is uncertainty rather than propriety. He cites Cicero to show that abandoning civil law leaves no man sure of what is his own.

    Chapter 26

  2. What limits does Hobbes place on a subject's property right against the sovereign?

    Hobbes argues that a subject's propriety consists in a right to exclude other subjects from using his lands, not to exclude the sovereign, whether an assembly or a monarch. Since the sovereign acts for common peace and security, any distribution prejudicial to that is void by the will of every subject. Yet a sovereign may still command things contrary to equity without subjects being authorized to accuse him of injustice.

    Chapter 26

  3. Why does Hobbes say commonwealths can endure no Diet, and what does he mean by Diet?

    Hobbes argues it is vain to set aside public land or a fixed revenue for the commonwealth, since any representative is subject to human passions and may sell or give it away. Public expense is limited not by the commonwealth's own appetite but by external accidents and neighbors' appetites, so public riches cannot be capped by fixed limits. He notes England's reserved lands proved insufficient and subject to alienation.

    Chapter 26

  4. How does Hobbes describe money and its circulation in a commonwealth?

    Hobbes calls money the blood of a commonwealth. By concoction he means reducing perishable commodities to something of equal value and portable, namely gold, silver, and money, so a man may have nourishment wherever he goes. Gold and silver serve as a common measure between nations because their value comes from the matter itself and cannot be altered by one or a few commonwealths, whereas base coin is easily enhanced or abased.

    Chapter 26

CHAPTER XXV. OF COUNSELL4 cards
  1. How does Hobbes distinguish Command from Counsell?

    Hobbes defines Command as saying "Do this" or "Do this not" with no reason expected but the speaker's will, so the commander aims at his own benefit. Counsell is saying "Do" or "Do not" while deducing reasons from the benefit to the person advised, so the counsellor pretends only that person's good. Hence Command serves the speaker's benefit, Counsell another's.

    Chapter 27

  2. Can a person be obliged to follow counsell, and why?

    Hobbes says a man may be obliged to do what he is Commanded, as when he has covenanted to obey, but he cannot be obliged to do as he is Counselled, because the hurt of not following it is his own. If he should covenant to follow it, then the Counsell is turned into the nature of a Command.

    Chapter 27

  3. What are Exhortation and Dehortation, and whose good do they serve?

    Hobbes defines Exhortation and Dehortation as Counsell accompanied by signs of vehement desire to have it followed, or Counsell vehemently pressed. He infers they are directed to the good of the giver, not the asker, contrary to a counsellor's duty, since the long, vehement, or artificial urging proceeds from the giver's own occasions. Their use lies only where one speaks to a multitude.

    Chapter 27

  4. Why does Hobbes prefer hearing counsellors apart rather than in assembly?

    Hobbes argues that, number being equal, a man is better counselled hearing counsellors apart. In assembly many vote by show of hands or feet, moved by another's eloquence or fear of displeasing, not their own sense; some have interests contrary to the public; and passions, moderate alone, enflame one another like brands. Apart, one may interrupt and examine reasons.

    Chapter 27

CHAPTER XXVI. OF CIVILL LAWES (part 1)4 cards
  1. How does Hobbes define civil law?

    Hobbes defines civil law as those rules the commonwealth has commanded each subject, by word, writing, or other sufficient sign of will, to use for distinguishing right from wrong—that is, what is and is not contrary to the rule. He stresses that law is command, not counsel, and only binds those to whom the command is directed.

    Chapter 28

  2. Why is the sovereign not subject to civil law?

    Hobbes argues the sovereign, whether one man or an assembly, is not bound by civil law because whoever has power to make and repeal laws can free himself whenever he pleases, so he was free beforehand. Also, no person can be bound to himself, since he who can bind can release, so self-binding is no binding.

    Chapter 28

  3. How do the law of nature and civil law relate, per Hobbes?

    Hobbes holds they contain each other and are of equal extent. The laws of nature—equity, justice, gratitude—are not properly laws in mere nature but dispositions to peace; once a commonwealth is settled they become actual civil laws through sovereign command. Reciprocally, civil law is part of nature's dictates, since subjects covenanted to obey.

    Chapter 28

  4. When is a law not binding on a person, according to Hobbes?

    Since law is a command expressed by word, writing, or sufficient sign, it binds only those with means to take notice of it. Over natural fools, children, and madmen there is no law, as over brute beasts, since they never had power to covenant. Likewise, anyone from whom accident, not his own default, removes means to know a particular law is excused.

    Chapter 28

CHAPTER XXVI. OF CIVILL LAWES (part 2)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, on whose authority does authentic interpretation of law depend?

    Hobbes holds that authentic interpretation—the sense of the legislator, in which the nature of law consists—depends on sovereign authority. Interpreters can only be those the sovereign appoints, since subjects owe obedience to the sovereign alone. Otherwise a crafty interpreter could make the law bear a sense contrary to the sovereign's, and so the interpreter becomes the legislator.

    Chapter 29

  2. Why does Hobbes say even the unwritten law of nature needs interpreters?

    Hobbes argues the law of nature is easy only to those who use natural reason without partiality or passion. Since very few—perhaps none—escape being blinded in some cases by self-love or other passion, it has become the most obscure of all laws and has the greatest need of able interpreters. Written laws also need interpretation, whether short or long.

    Chapter 29

  3. Does a judge's sentence bind later judges in like cases?

    No. Hobbes says a judge's sentence is law to the parties pleading, given by sovereign authority, but it does not bind him or other judges afterward. If a later like case seems more consonant with equity, a judge is obliged to give a contrary sentence. No man's error becomes his own law, and precedent sentences cannot make a law contrary to natural equity.

    Chapter 29

  4. What four qualities does Hobbes require in a good judge?

    Hobbes lists: first, right understanding of equity, the principal law of nature, resting on natural reason and meditation rather than reading others' writings; second, contempt of unnecessary riches and preferments; third, ability to divest oneself in judgment of fear, anger, hatred, love, and compassion; fourth, patience to hear, diligent attention, and memory to retain, digest, and apply what is heard.

    Chapter 29

CHAPTER XXVI. OF CIVILL LAWES (part 3)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what must subjects do when they lack personal revelation of God's will?

    Hobbes concludes that in a commonwealth, a subject without certain and assured revelation particularly to himself must obey the commonwealth's command as divine law, in all things not contrary to the moral law (the law of nature). He argues that otherwise men would take their own dreams and fancies as God's commandments, and scarcely two would agree.

    Chapter 30

  2. What distinguishes a fundamental law from a non-fundamental law?

    A fundamental law is one which, being taken away, causes the commonwealth to fail and be utterly dissolved, like a building whose foundation is destroyed—such as the sovereign's power of war and peace, judicature, and election of officers. A non-fundamental law, such as laws concerning controversies between subjects, can be abrogated without dissolving the commonwealth.

    Chapter 30

  3. How does Hobbes distinguish civil law (Lex) from civil right (Jus)?

    Hobbes says right is liberty—the liberty the civil law leaves us—while civil law is an obligation that takes away the liberty the law of nature gave us. Nature gave each man a right to secure himself by his own strength and to invade a suspected neighbor preventively; civil law removes that liberty where the protection of the law may safely be awaited. Lex and Jus differ as obligation and liberty.

    Chapter 30

  4. How do laws differ from charters, according to Hobbes?

    Hobbes says charters are donations of the sovereign and exemptions from law, not laws. A law's phrase is 'I command and enjoin'; a charter's is 'I have given, I have granted.' What is granted is not forced on a man by law. A law may bind all subjects, while a liberty or charter is only to one man or one part of the people.

    Chapter 30

CHAPTER XXVII. OF CRIMES, EXCUSES, AND EXTENUATIONS4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what distinguishes a Crime from a Sinne?

    Hobbes holds that every Crime is a sinne, but not every sinne is a Crime. A sinne is any transgression of a Law or contempt of the Legislator, including mere intention. A Crime is a sinne consisting in committing by Deed or Word what the Law forbids, or omitting what it commands—so only sinnes that can appear before a Judge and be accused by another count as Crimes.

    Chapter 31

  2. When does ignorance of the Law of Nature excuse a person, per Hobbes?

    Never. Hobbes argues that anyone who has attained the use of Reason is supposed to know he ought not to do to another what he would not have done to himself. So wherever a man goes, acting against the Law of Nature is a Crime. He adds that ignorance of a strange country's Civil Law may excuse until it is declared, since till then no Civil Law binds.

    Chapter 31

  3. Why can no law made after a fact make that fact a Crime?

    Hobbes reasons that if the fact is against the Law of Nature, that Law existed before the fact; and a Positive Law cannot be known before it is made, so it cannot be obligatory. Where a prohibiting law precedes the fact but no penalty was known by writing or example, the offender is still liable to a penalty ordained afterward.

    Chapter 31

  4. What three defects in Reasoning does Hobbes say make men prone to violate law?

    Hobbes lists: false Principles (e.g., that justice is a vain word, or that success makes an act virtuous); false Teachers who mis-interpret the Law of Nature or teach doctrines inconsistent with a subject's duty; and Erroneous Inferences from true principles, common to hasty men who trust natural wit over long study. None of these defects excuses a Crime, though some may extenuate it.

    Chapter 31

CHAPTER XXVIII. OF PUNISHMENTS, AND REWARDS4 cards
  1. For Hobbes, what is the definition of punishment?

    Hobbes defines punishment as an evil inflicted by public authority on someone who has done or omitted what that same authority judges to be a transgression of the law, with the end that men's wills may be better disposed to obedience.

    Chapter 32

  2. On what basis does the sovereign hold the right to punish?

    The author argues the right to punish is not grounded on any concession or gift of the subjects. Before the commonwealth, every man had a right to all things for self-preservation. Subjects only laid down their own rights, strengthening the sovereign to use his own for the preservation of all; the right was left to him, not given.

    Chapter 32

  3. Why is exiling a criminal not inherently a punishment for Hobbes?

    Hobbes says exile seems not in its own nature, without other circumstances, to be a punishment, but rather an escape or public command to avoid punishment by flight. He cites Cicero that Rome ordained no such punishment. If the banished man keeps his goods and lands, only the change of air occurs; if deprived of goods, it counts as pecuniary punishment.

    Chapter 32

  4. What does Hobbes say about punishing innocent subjects?

    All punishments of innocent subjects, great or little, are against the law of nature, since punishment is only for transgression of law. It violates the law of nature forbidding revenge except for future good, the law against ingratitude, and the law of equity. But harm to innocent non-subjects in war, for the commonwealth's benefit and without breach of covenant, is no breach.

    Chapter 32

CHAPTER XXIX. OF THOSE THINGS THAT WEAKEN, OR TEND TO THE…4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what is the source of a commonwealth's internal dissolution?

    Hobbes argues that when a commonwealth dissolves through internal disorder rather than external violence, the fault lies not in men as the matter but in men as the makers and orderers of it. Lacking the art of making fit laws and the humility and patience to remove cumbersome points of greatness, they build a crazy structure that falls on their posterity.

    Chapter 33

  2. Why does Hobbes call dividing sovereign power a doctrine against the essence of a commonwealth?

    Hobbes argues that to divide the power of a commonwealth is to dissolve it, because divided powers mutually destroy each other. He says men owe this doctrine chiefly to some who profess the laws and try to make them depend on their own learning rather than on the legislative power.

    Chapter 33

  3. What does Hobbes say about a sovereign being subject to civil law?

    Hobbes argues sovereigns are subject to the laws of nature, which are divine and cannot be abrogated, but not to the civil laws the sovereign himself makes. To be subject to those laws is to be subject to himself, which is freedom from the laws, not subjection. This error sets a judge and punisher above the sovereign, breeding endless new sovereigns.

    Chapter 33

  4. How does Hobbes describe the effect of reading Greek and Roman histories on young men?

    Hobbes argues that reading ancient Greek and Roman policy and histories gives young men and others lacking solid reason a pleasing idea of popular government, without considering the seditions and civil wars its imperfection produced. From such books men learn to call a king a tyrant and think tyrannicide lawful, and to believe subjects in popular states enjoy liberty while monarchical subjects are slaves.

    Chapter 33

CHAPTER XXX. OF THE OFFICE OF THE SOVERAIGN REPRESENTATIVE4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what does the sovereign's office require beyond bare preservation?

    Hobbes says the sovereign's office is the "procuration of the safety of the people," to which he is obliged by the law of nature and accountable to God alone. By safety, Hobbes does not mean bare preservation but also all other contentments of life that each person may lawfully acquire without danger or hurt to the commonwealth.

    Chapter 34

  2. What two duties does Hobbes say the sovereign has regarding essential rights of sovereignty?

    Hobbes says the sovereign must maintain the essential rights of sovereignty entire, since removing them dissolves the commonwealth and returns men to war. It is against his duty first to transfer or lay aside any of those rights, and second to let the people be ignorant or misinformed of the grounds and reasons of those rights, since ignorance makes them easy to seduce into resistance.

    Chapter 34

  3. How does Hobbes answer the objection that common people cannot understand these principles?

    Hobbes argues the obstruction comes not from the difficulty of the matter but from the interest of those who must learn: powerful men resist anything that bridles their affections, and learned men resist anything exposing their errors. Common minds, unless tainted by dependence on the powerful or scribbled over with doctors' opinions, are like clean paper ready to receive what public authority imprints.

    Chapter 34

  4. What four particulars does Hobbes say the people must be taught about government?

    Hobbes lists: first, not to be in love with foreign forms of government or desire change, since prosperity comes from obedience and concord, not the form; second, not to defer sovereign obedience or honour to popular fellow subjects or assemblies; third, not to speak evil of or dispute the sovereign power; fourth, to set apart times to hear their duties and have the positive laws read and expounded.

    Chapter 34

CHAPTER XXXI. OF THE KINGDOME OF GOD BY NATURE4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what makes someone a subject in the Kingdom of God?

    Hobbes says subjects of God's Kingdom are those who believe there is a God who governs the world and has given precepts, rewards, and punishments to mankind. He excludes inanimate bodies and irrational creatures because they understand no precepts, and excludes atheists and those denying God's providence because they acknowledge no word of his and have no hope or fear of his rewards and punishments. All the rest are understood as enemies.

    Chapter 35

  2. What three ways does Hobbes say God declares his laws?

    Hobbes states God declares his laws three ways: by the dictates of natural reason, by revelation, and by the voice of some man whom God procures credit for by the operation of miracles. This yields a triple Word of God—rational, sensible, and prophetic—corresponding to a triple hearing: right reason, supernatural sense, and faith. Hobbes notes revelation is given to particular persons, not as universal laws.

    Chapter 35

  3. From what does Hobbes derive God's right to sovereignty and to afflict men?

    Hobbes derives God's right of sovereignty not from his creating men (as if requiring gratitude) but from his irresistible power. Just as sovereign right by pact arises because men lay down their natural right for safety, so dominion adheres naturally to those whose power is irresistible. Thus the Kingdom over men and the right of afflicting them belong to God as Omnipotent, not as Creator and Gracious; the right of afflicting is not always derived from men's sin.

    Chapter 35

  4. How does Hobbes distinguish honour from worship, and what is the end of worship among men?

    Hobbes says honour consists in the inward thought and opinion of another's power and goodness, so to honour God is to think as highly of his power and goodness as possible. External signs of that opinion in words and actions are called worship. He states the end of worship among men is power, since a man seen worshipped is supposed powerful and is more readily obeyed; but God has no ends, and our worship proceeds from duty.

    Chapter 35

CHAPTER XXXII. OF THE PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN POLITIQUES4 cards
  1. For a Christian commonwealth, what two grounds does Hobbes say his discourse must rest on?

    Hobbes says that having derived sovereign rights and subjects' duties from nature alone, he must now ground the Christian commonwealth on supernatural revelation. So his foundation is not only the natural word of God but also the prophetic word. Yet he insists we must not renounce our senses, experience, or natural reason, since these are talents God gave us to employ until Christ's return.

    Chapter 36

  2. What does Hobbes mean by captivating the understanding, and what is it not?

    Hobbes says captivating the understanding is not submitting the intellectual faculty to another man's opinion. Sense, memory, understanding, reason, and opinion are not changeable by our will. Rather, it is submitting the will to obedience where obedience is due: forbearing contradiction, speaking as lawful authority commands, and living accordingly. In sum, it is trust and faith in the speaker even when the mind cannot grasp the words.

    Chapter 36

  3. According to Hobbes, what two marks together identify a true prophet?

    Hobbes draws from Scripture two marks that must be joined, not taken singly: doing miracles, and not teaching any religion other than the one already established. Neither alone suffices. Deuteronomy warns that a miracle-worker urging revolt from God (equivalent, Hobbes says, to revolt from the king) must be put to death, and Christ warned false prophets would work great wonders.

    Chapter 36

  4. Why does Hobbes say miracles and prophecy have ceased, and what replaces them?

    Hobbes argues that since miracles now cease, we have no sign by which to acknowledge any private man's pretended revelations or inspirations, nor any obligation to hear doctrine beyond what conforms to Holy Scripture. Since Christ's time, Scripture supplies the want of all other prophecy, and from it, by wise and careful reasoning, all rules of duty to God and man may be deduced without enthusiasm or supernatural inspiration.

    Chapter 36

CHAPTER XXXIII. OF THE NUMBER, ANTIQUITY, SCOPE, AUTHORITY…3 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what makes books canonical in a nation?

    Hobbes argues that only those books are canonical—that is, law—in a nation which are established as such by the sovereign authority. He acknowledges God as sovereign of all sovereigns, but says the real question is when and what God has said, which subjects without supernatural revelation can know only through natural reason and obedience to their lawful sovereigns.

    Chapter 37

  2. What evidence does Hobbes give that Joshua, Judges, and Samuel were written long after their subjects?

    Hobbes points to phrases like 'unto this day' attached to monuments—the twelve stones in Jordan, Gilgal, the Valley of Achor—which signify a time beyond memory and would be improper in the lifetime of the figures. For Judges he cites the note that Jonathan's sons were priests to Dan 'until the day of the captivity,' and for Samuel, David's statute and Perez-Uzzah 'to this day.'

    Chapter 37

  3. How does Hobbes date the compilation of the Old Testament as we have it?

    Hobbes argues the whole Old Testament was set forth in its present form after the Jews' return from Babylonian captivity and before Ptolemy Philadelphus had it translated into Greek by the seventy. He notes Psalms 137 and 126 were written after the return, and that if the Apocrypha may be credited, Esdras set forth the Scripture in this form.

    Chapter 37

CHAPTER XXXIV. OF THE SIGNIFICATION OF SPIRIT, ANGEL, AND…4 cards
  1. For Hobbes, what happens when 'substance incorporeal' is used as a term?

    The author argues the words destroy one another, like saying 'an incorporeal body.' Since the Universe is the aggregate of all bodies, whatever occupies room is body; substance and body therefore signify the same thing. What people call incorporeal substance is either a thin invisible body or a phantasm of the imagination, not a real thing lacking dimension.

    Chapter 38

  2. What does 'Spirit of God' mean in Genesis 1:2, according to Hobbes?

    The author argues it means a wind or breath, not God himself. If it meant God, motion and place would be attributed to him, which are intelligible only of bodies. Hobbes compares it to Genesis 8:1, where God brings his Spirit upon the earth and the waters diminish—there Spirit plainly means a moved air or wind, called God's because it was God's work.

    Chapter 38

  3. Besides wind, what metaphorical senses does Hobbes list for 'Spirit' in Scripture?

    The author lists: disposition or inclination of mind (Spirit of Contradiction, Unclean Spirit); eminent ability or extraordinary passion or disease of mind (Spirit of Wisdom, mad men 'possessed'); extraordinary gifts of understanding (Joseph's wisdom, Exodus 28:3); extraordinary zeal and courage (Gideon, Samson, Saul); the gift of prediction by dreams and visions; life itself; and subordination to authority, as Joshua filled with the Spirit of wisdom after Moses laid hands on him.

    Chapter 38

  4. How does Hobbes define 'Angel' and what does Scripture say about their creation?

    By the name Angel is signified generally a messenger, most often a messenger of God—anything that makes known his extraordinary presence, especially by a Dream or Vision. Concerning the creation of Angels, the author notes nothing is delivered in the Scriptures. Where they are called Spirits, that word can mean thin bodies like air or wind, or images rising in fancy during dreams.

    Chapter 38

CHAPTER XXXV. OF THE SIGNIFICATION IN SCRIPTURE OF KINGDOME…4 cards
  1. How do Divines commonly misuse the term 'Kingdom of God' according to Hobbes?

    Hobbes says Divines, especially in sermons and devotional treatises, usually take the Kingdom of God to mean eternal felicity after this life in the highest heaven (the Kingdom of Glory), or sometimes sanctification (the Kingdom of Grace). He argues they never use it for the monarchy—God's sovereign power over subjects acquired by their own consent—which he claims is the proper signification of kingdom.

    Chapter 39

  2. What covenant established God's peculiar sovereignty over Abraham's seed, and what was its token?

    God made a covenant with Abraham (Gen. 17.7-8), promising to be a God to him and his seed and to give them the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. As a memorial and token of this covenant, God ordained the sacrament of circumcision. Hobbes calls this the Old Covenant or Testament, a contract obliging Abraham and his posterity specially to God's positive law.

    Chapter 39

  3. Why does Hobbes translate 'peculium' as 'peculiar people' rather than 'precious jewel'?

    Hobbes argues the truest translation is 'peculiar people,' confirmed by St. Paul (Tit. 2.14), where the Greek periousios means that which is overplus, stored up, and enjoyed in a special manner—the Latin peculium—as opposed to epiousios, meaning ordinary or daily. God's reason, 'For all the Earth is mine,' shows all nations are his by power, but Israel is his by consent and covenant.

    Chapter 39

  4. What does Hobbes argue 'holy' properly signifies, and how does this apply to the Jews?

    Hobbes argues holy properly signifies that which is God's by special right, gotten by consent—answering to what men call 'public' or 'the king's' in earthly kingdoms. All the earth is God's by power, but only what is set apart for his special service is called holy. The Jews were a Holy Nation because they became God's propriety by covenant, unlike mankind generally.

    Chapter 39

CHAPTER XXXVI. OF THE WORD OF GOD, AND OF PROPHETS3 cards
  1. In Scripture, what does 'the Word of God' most often mean besides words spoken by God?

    Hobbes distinguishes senses of 'Word of God.' It can mean words spoken by God, but in Greek-influenced Scripture it often means the doctrine concerning God and his government—the doctrine of Christian religion. In this latter sense, the author argues the whole of Scripture is the Word of God; in the former sense, it is not, since some biblical words are the historian's, not God's.

    Chapter 40

  2. What does 'prophet' most frequently mean in Scripture, according to Hobbes?

    Hobbes says 'prophet' has several senses: a prolocutor speaking from God to man or man to God, a foreteller of future things, or one who speaks incoherently like a madman. The most frequent sense is speaking from God to the people, as with Moses, Samuel, Elijah, and Isaiah. The High Priest was also a prophet, declaring God's answer to the people.

    Chapter 40

  3. Is foretelling future events always true prophecy for Hobbes?

    No. Hobbes says prophecy as prediction is not an art or constant vocation but an extraordinary, temporary employment from God, often of good men but sometimes of the wicked. Imposters claiming familiar spirits or divination gain reputation from one lucky hit. The woman of Endor was not a prophetess; God merely guided her imposture to terrify Saul.

    Chapter 40

CHAPTER XXXVII. OF MIRACLES, AND THEIR USE4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what two conditions make an event a miracle?

    Hobbes says men wonder at an event for two reasons: it is strange (the like has never or rarely been seen), and no natural cause can be imagined for it, so it seems done by God's immediate hand. If either a possible natural cause is known, or the event is common, it is not esteemed a miracle.

    Chapter 41

  2. Why does Hobbes say the first rainbow was a miracle but later ones are not?

    Hobbes argues the first rainbow was a miracle because it was the first and therefore strange, and it served as a sign from God that the world would never again be destroyed by water. At present, because rainbows are frequent, they are not miracles, whether or not people know their natural causes.

    Chapter 41

  3. What is Hobbes's definition of a miracle?

    Hobbes defines a miracle as a work of God, besides his operation by the way of nature ordained in the Creation, done for making manifest to his elect the mission of an extraordinary Minister for their salvation. From this he infers the work is God's immediate hand, not any virtue in the Prophet, and no Devil, Angel, or created spirit can work a miracle.

    Chapter 41

  4. What caution does Hobbes prescribe against false miracles?

    Hobbes says the best caution is what God prescribed through Moses in Deuteronomy: accept no prophet teaching a religion other than what God's Lieutenant established, nor any whose prediction does not come to pass. The head of the Church in all times is to be consulted on established doctrine, and the supposed miracle must be seen done and examined whether it is really done.

    Chapter 41

CHAPTER XXXVIII. OF THE SIGNIFICATION IN SCRIPTURE OF…4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, where did Adam's eternal life exist before the Fall?

    Hobbes argues Adam was created to enjoy eternal life on Earth in the Paradise of Eden, eating of the Tree of Life so long as he refrained from the Tree of Knowledge. Mortality entered upon Adam and his posterity through his first sin, meaning the certainty of death, not immediate actual death, since Adam lived long and had children afterward.

    Chapter 42

  2. Where does Hobbes think believers will enjoy eternal life after the Resurrection?

    Hobbes argues the place is Earth, not Heaven. He reasons that as all die in Adam by forfeiting Paradise and eternal life on Earth, so in Christ all shall be made alive on Earth, otherwise the comparison would not hold. He cites Zion, the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven, and Christ's return as he ascended.

    Chapter 42

  3. What does Hobbes say about the soul's natural immortality?

    Hobbes argues that the soul being eternal by its own nature, or any mere man being immortal otherwise than by the Resurrection in the last day (except Enos and Elias), is a doctrine not apparent in Scripture. Immortal life begins not from man's specific nature and generation but from the Promise, as St. Peter says believers look for new heavens from Promise, not Nature.

    Chapter 42

  4. How does Hobbes interpret the Kingdom of Heaven and its location?

    Hobbes argues the Kingdom of Heaven means the Kingdom of the King who dwells in Heaven, and that his kingdom was the people of Israel ruled by Prophets and then Soveraign Priests until Samuel. After Christ's return the Kingdom of God is to be on Earth, and Hobbes notes no necessity in Scripture that man ascend higher than God's footstool, the Earth.

    Chapter 42

CHAPTER XXXIX. OF THE SIGNIFICATION IN SCRIPTURE OF THE…4 cards
  1. What does Hobbes say the word Church signifies when not taken for a house?

    Hobbes says Church, when not taken for a house, signifies the same as Ecclesia in the Greek commonwealths: a congregation or assembly of citizens called forth to hear the magistrate. In Rome this was called Concio, and the speaker Concionator. Called by lawful authority it was a lawful Church; stirred by seditious clamor, a confused Church.

    Chapter 43

  2. In which sense only can the Church be taken as one Person?

    Only in the sense of a congregation of professors of Christianity, whether their profession be true or counterfeit, as at Matthew 18:17. Only then can the Church be said to will, command, be obeyed, or make laws. Without authority from a lawful congregation, any act is each person's own act, not the act of all as one body.

    Chapter 43

  3. How does Hobbes define a Church?

    Hobbes defines a Church as a company of men professing Christian religion, united in the person of one Sovereign, at whose command they ought to assemble and without whose authority they ought not to assemble. Since any assembly without warrant from the civil Sovereign is unlawful, a Church assembled where assembly is forbidden is an unlawful assembly.

    Chapter 43

  4. Why does Hobbes argue there is no universal Church all Christians must obey?

    The author argues there is no universal Church on earth that all Christians are bound to obey, because no power on earth has all other commonwealths subject to it. Christians live under several princes and states, each subject to their own commonwealth. So a Church capable of commanding is the same thing as a civil commonwealth of Christian men.

    Chapter 43

CHAPTER XL OF THE RIGHTS OF THE KINGDOME OF GOD, IN…4 cards
  1. In Hobbes's account, what three points follow from God's covenant with Abraham?

    Hobbes draws three points: those to whom God has not spoken immediately must receive God's positive commandments from their sovereign; the sovereign may lawfully punish those who oppose private revelation to the established law; and only the sovereign, like Abraham in his family, can judge and interpret what God has spoken.

    Chapter 44

  2. Why did Moses's authority over the Israelites rest on popular consent?

    Hobbes argues Moses could not claim authority by inheritance from Abraham, and God spoke to the people only through Moses, so Moses's own testimony could not establish his claim. His authority therefore rested on the people's consent and promise to obey, given at Sinai when they asked Moses to speak with God for them.

    Chapter 44

  3. How does Hobbes describe the authority of the seventy elders who prophesied under Moses?

    Hobbes says God took of the Spirit upon Moses and gave it to the seventy elders, meaning they received a mind conformable and subordinate to Moses's. They were ministers speaking in God's name by Moses's authority, so no subject may pretend to prophecy or the Spirit in opposition to the doctrine established by God's appointed ruler.

    Chapter 44

  4. After Moses, where did sovereignty lie, and how were civil and ecclesiastical power related?

    Hobbes holds that after Moses the sacerdotal kingdom descended to Eleazar the High Priest, with Joshua as military general under him. The High Priest held supreme power over war and peace, judgment, and worship until Saul, so civil and ecclesiastical power were joined in one person, as they ought to be in anyone ruling by immediate divine authority.

    Chapter 44

CHAPTER XLI. OF THE OFFICE OF OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR4 cards
  1. What three parts of the Messiah's office does Hobbes identify?

    Hobbes names three parts of Christ's office: Redeemer or Saviour, Pastor/Counsellor/Teacher (a Prophet sent to convert the elect), and King—an eternal King but under his Father, as Moses and the High Priests were. To these correspond three times: redemption at his first coming, conversion partly then and partly now through his ministers, and his glorious eternal reign over the elect after his coming again.

    Chapter 45

  2. How does Hobbes explain Christ as both the sacrificed goat and the scapegoat?

    Hobbes reads Leviticus 16's two goats as figuring Christ: the sacrificed goat, because he died, and the scapegoat, because by confession the people's iniquities were laid on its head and it carried them into the wilderness. He cites Isaiah 53 for both—oppressed and afflicted (sacrificed), bearing our griefs and sins (scapegoat)—and says Christ was raised and ascended, escaping from the habitation of men.

    Chapter 45

  3. Why does Hobbes argue Christ's kingdom did not begin during his earthly life?

    Hobbes argues a redeemer has no title to the redeemed before the ransom—his death—is paid, so Christ as man was not king in present during his earthly life. He cites 'My kingdom is not of this world' and Matthew 16:27, where the Son of man comes in glory and then rewards every man, which is kingly office. Scripture mentions only this world and the world to come, so the kingdom begins at the general Resurrection.

    Chapter 45

  4. What was the purpose of Christ's first coming, and was his preaching seditious?

    Hobbes says Christ's first coming was to restore to God, by a new covenant, the kingdom lost when the Israelites rebelled in electing Saul. He was to proclaim himself the Messiah, teach and work miracles to persuade men, and call Gentiles if the nation refused. This was no threat to civil authority: he told men to obey those in Moses' seat, pay tribute to Caesar, and refused to be a judge; Pilate found no fault in him.

    Chapter 45

CHAPTER XLII. OF POWER ECCLESIASTICALL (part 1)4 cards
  1. Before kings converted, in whom did Hobbes say ecclesiastical power lay?

    Hobbes distinguishes the time before kings embraced Christianity from the time after. Before that, ecclesiastical power lay in the Apostles and then in those they ordained by successive imposition of hands. That ceremony sealed their commission to preach Christ and teach his doctrine, and signified giving the Holy Spirit, imitating Moses laying hands on Joshua.

    Chapter 46

  2. How does Hobbes reinterpret the doctrine of the Trinity?

    The author argues God was represented, or personated, three times: by Moses and the High Priests as Father, by his incarnate Son, and by the Apostles as Holy Spirit. Since a person is whoever is represented, God may properly be called three Persons, though neither 'Person' nor 'Trinity' appears in the Bible. The earthly Trinity of Spirit, Water, and Bloud is not one substance.

    Chapter 46

  3. What kind of power does Hobbes say Christ left to his ministers?

    Hobbes argues Christ's kingdom is not of this world, so his ministers, unless they are also kings, cannot command obedience in his name. Their power is only to teach, proclaim Christ's kingdom, and persuade by precepts and wholesome counsels, not laws. He compares their work to fishing, leaven, and seed, all excluding compulsion, and cites Paul: 'We have no Dominion over your Faith.'

    Chapter 46

  4. What may Christians do if a sovereign forbids belief in Christ?

    Hobbes says such forbidding has no effect, since belief and unbelief never follow commands; faith is a gift of God that no promise or torture can give or take. If commanded to deny Christ with the tongue, profession is external, like any gesture of obedience, and a Christian may keep faith in the heart, as Elisha permitted Naaman bowing in Rimmon's house.

    Chapter 46

CHAPTER XLII. OF POWER ECCLESIASTICALL (part 2)3 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what kind of power do preachers have, and what is preaching compared to?

    The author argues preachers have not magisterial but ministerial power, since Christ said "Be not called Masters, for one is your Master, even Christ." Preaching is compared to a crier or herald publicly proclaiming a king, but a crier has no right to command anyone. The seventy disciples were sent as laborers, not lords of the harvest.

    Chapter 47

  2. What does Hobbes say baptism means, and what do we promise in it regarding earthly authority?

    Hobbes defines baptism as dipping into water, a sign of becoming a new man and loyal subject to God, to Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine of the Apostles. Since earthly sovereigns' authority is not put down till the day of judgment, he concludes we do not in baptism set another authority over our external actions in this life.

    Chapter 47

  3. Who judges the truth of repentance and pronounces excommunication, according to Hobbes?

    Hobbes says the judgment concerning the truth of repentance belongs not to one man but to the church, the assembly of the faithful or their representative, citing Matthew 18. The pronouncing of sentence belonged to the apostle or pastor as prolocutor. Paul pronounced sentence on the Corinthian offender, but the assembly first heard the cause and judged it.

    Chapter 47

CHAPTER XLII. OF POWER ECCLESIASTICALL (part 3)3 cards
  1. Why does Hobbes say excommunication lacks effect without civil power?

    Hobbes argues that excommunication without the assistance of civil power—as when a Christian state or prince is excommunicated by a foreign authority—is without effect and therefore ought to be without terror. He compares a teacher abandoning obstinate disciples to God's reply to Samuel: "They have not rejected thee, but mee."

    Chapter 48

  2. Why were the Thessalonians free to judge Paul's interpretation of Scripture?

    Hobbes says Paul came without legal commission, persuading rather than commanding. Whoever persuades by reasoning from written principles makes the hearer judge of both the meaning of those principles and the force of his inferences. So the Thessalonians could believe or not as the allegations seemed agreeable to them; some believed, some did not.

    Chapter 48

  3. Who had power to make the Decalogue law in Israel, according to Hobbes?

    Hobbes says the Ten Commandments were first law, given by God to Moses and made known to the people. Since a law obliges only those who acknowledge it as the sovereign's act, and Israelites were forbidden to approach the mountain, they bound themselves to obey Moses (Exod. 20:19). Moses, Aaron, and succeeding High Priests were civil sovereigns, so canonizing Scripture belonged to the civil sovereign.

    Chapter 48

CHAPTER XLII. OF POWER ECCLESIASTICALL (part 4)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, when does New Testament scripture become law?

    Hobbes argues that the Scripture of the New Testament is law only where the lawful civil power has made it so. The sovereign who converts makes it law to himself, subjecting himself not to the doctor or apostle who converted him but directly to God and Christ, as immediately as the Apostles themselves did.

    Chapter 49

  2. Why does Hobbes deny that the Apostles' council decrees were laws?

    Hobbes argues the Apostles' power was only to invite men into the Kingdom of God, which they acknowledged as not present but to come; those with no kingdom can make no laws. Their council acts were conditions proposed to seekers of salvation, refusable at one's own peril without new sin, not commands that could be disobeyed sinfully.

    Chapter 49

  3. How were Matthias, Paul, and Barnabas made Apostles?

    Hobbes notes Matthias was chosen by about 120 assembled Christians in Jerusalem, with lots drawn, so his ordination was the act of the congregation, not of Peter or the eleven except as members. Paul and Barnabas were called by the Holy Ghost but declared and authorized by the particular Church of Antioch, which sent them out.

    Chapter 49

  4. What did the titles bishop, pastor, elder, and doctor mean in the Apostles' time?

    Hobbes argues these were merely different names for the same office in the Apostles' time, since there was then no government by coercion, only by doctrine and persuasion. The Kingdom of God was yet to come, so no church had authority to compel until the commonwealth embraced Christianity; there was diversity of employment but no diversity of authority.

    Chapter 49

CHAPTER XLII. OF POWER ECCLESIASTICALL (part 5)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, who chose the first seven Deacons in Acts 6?

    Hobbes argues the first Deacons were chosen not by the Apostles but by a congregation of the disciples. The Twelve called the multitude together and told them to look out seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. The text states the saying pleased the multitude and they chose seven, though the Apostles declared them elected and appointed them over the business.

    Chapter 50

  2. How were the Tribe of Levi and the Priests maintained under the Mosaic law?

    Hobbes explains Levi received no land inheritance but was assigned cities and suburbs for their cattle. Their portion was the tenth of the fruits of the land of their brethren. The Priests received the tenth of that tenth, plus part of the oblations and sacrifices. God said to Aaron he would be their part and inheritance, meaning the public revenue reserved to God maintained them.

    Chapter 50

  3. What maintained Christ's ministers before Constantine, according to Hobbes?

    Hobbes states that from the Apostles' time until after Constantine, the maintenance of bishops and pastors was nothing but the voluntary contribution of those who embraced their doctrine. There was no mention of tithes. Christ's ministers had a purse and received free gifts from believers, and Christians of each city lived in common on money from selling lands, given of good will, not duty.

    Chapter 50

  4. Why does Hobbes say Christian Kings are supreme pastors of their people?

    Hobbes argues the right of judging what doctrines are fit for peace is inseparably annexed to civil sovereign power. Heathen kings were called pastors because no subject could lawfully teach without their permission. Conversion to Christianity did not depose kings or strip them of power needed for peace and defense. So Christian kings remain supreme pastors and may ordain pastors, who are but their ministers.

    Chapter 50

CHAPTER XLII. OF POWER ECCLESIASTICALL (part 6)2 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what did the laying on of hands in ordination signify?

    Hobbes argues the ceremony was a "punctuall, and religious designation of the person" ordained to pastoral charge or a particular mission, not a conferral of the Holy Ghost. He notes the seven Deacons were already full of the Holy Ghost before hands were laid on them, and that Paul told Timothy not to lay hands suddenly on any man—meaning to designate no one rashly to the pastoral office.

    Chapter 51

  2. Why does Hobbes say Christian sovereigns need no imposition of hands to exercise pastoral functions?

    Hobbes argues every sovereign before Christianity already held the power of teaching and ordaining teachers, so Christianity gave them no new right but only directed them to teach truth. Baptism alone sufficed. He cites Solomon, who blessed the people, consecrated the Temple, and pronounced the public prayer, showing the king held both ecclesiastical government and the exercise of ecclesiastical functions.

    Chapter 51

CHAPTER XLII. OF POWER ECCLESIASTICALL (part 7)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what did Christ's charge to Peter in Luke 22 actually grant Peter?

    Hobbes argues Peter received no jurisdiction in this world, but rather a charge to teach the other Apostles that they also should have none. The promise that Peter's faith would not fail meant only that Peter would continue believing Christ would return to possess his Kingdom at the day of Judgement—a belief Hobbes says was not given to all Peter's successors, who claim it in the present world.

    Chapter 52

  2. How does Hobbes interpret 'Feed my sheep' in John 21?

    Hobbes says it contains no more than a Commission of Teaching. If the other Apostles are included under 'sheep,' it is a supreme power of teaching, but it applied only for the time when there were no Christian Sovereigns already holding that supremacy. Hobbes has already argued Christian Sovereigns are supreme pastors in their own dominions by virtue of baptism, without other imposition of hands.

    Chapter 52

  3. How does Hobbes counter Bellarmine's use of Exodus 28:30 (Urim and Thummim)?

    Bellarmine takes Urim and Thummim as Evidence and Truth, almost infallibility, given to the High Priest. Hobbes replies that even if it were Evidence and Truth itself, or merely an admonition to judge uprightly, it was given to the High Priest—who next under God was the Civil Sovereign in Israel. So the text supports ecclesiastical supremacy of civil sovereigns over their subjects, against papal claims.

    Chapter 52

  4. Why does Hobbes say the Acts 15 council's decrees were counsels, not laws?

    Bellarmine notes the phrase 'laying burdens' as legislative power. Hobbes answers that 'We think good' is the style of those giving advice, not 'We command,' which is the style of law. The Apostles aimed only at the Gentiles' salvation, not their own benefit, and a law's reason is taken from the benefit of the prescriber while a counsel's is from the benefit of the recipient. Therefore those acts were counsels.

    Chapter 52

CHAPTER XLII. OF POWER ECCLESIASTICALL (part 8)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, from whom do bishops derive their jurisdiction in a Christian commonwealth?

    Hobbes argues all lawful jurisdiction comes from God immediately in the supreme governor and mediately in subordinates. Since jurisdiction means power to hear and determine causes and to make laws backed by the sword, only the civil sovereign can lawfully hold it. Therefore bishops exercise jurisdiction only when granted by their civil sovereign, and the Pope holds it only in his own territories.

    Chapter 53

  2. How does Hobbes use Solomon and Abiathar to answer Bellarmine's fifth argument?

    Bellarmine argued that if bishops held jurisdiction immediately from God, the Pope could not take it away. Hobbes turns this against him: if the high priest's jurisdiction were immediately from God, the king could not remove him either. Yet Solomon deprived Abiathar and installed Zadok, proving kings may ordain and depose bishops as they see fit.

    Chapter 53

  3. What does Hobbes mean by the Pope's 'indirect' temporal power, and why does he reject it?

    Hobbes says Bellarmine's indirect power means the Pope claims temporal jurisdiction as a consequence of his pastoral authority, without consent of the governed. Hobbes rejects this: whether direct or indirect, the power is the same, letting the Pope depose princes whenever he judges it serves salvation of souls, a judgment he alone claims. Hobbes calls the temporal/spiritual distinction mere words.

    Chapter 53

  4. What examples does Hobbes give of popes actually deposing or transferring kingdoms?

    Hobbes cites the Fourth Lateran Council under Innocent III, whose canon absolved subjects of obedience to a king who failed to purge heresy after excommunication. He lists practice: deposing Chilperic of France, transferring the Roman Empire to Charlemagne, oppressing John of England, transferring Navarre, and the League against Henry III of France.

    Chapter 53

CHAPTER XLII. OF POWER ECCLESIASTICALL (part 9)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what makes an opinion heretical?

    Hobbes defines heresy as a private opinion obstinately maintained against the doctrine the public representative of the commonwealth has commanded to be taught. Therefore an opinion publicly appointed cannot be heresy, and sovereigns who authorize it cannot be heretics; heretics are only private men stubbornly defending doctrine prohibited by their lawful sovereigns.

    Chapter 54

  2. Why does Hobbes say Christians must tolerate an infidel or heretical king?

    Hobbes argues that Christians who refuse to tolerate their king, whatever law he makes including on religion, violate faith against divine law, natural and positive. He denies the pope's right to judge heresy among subjects, assigning that judgment to the civil sovereign, and holds that deposing a chosen king is in no case just, being always a violation of faith.

    Chapter 54

  3. How does Hobbes answer the claim that early Christians lacked force to depose Nero?

    Hobbes replies that Christ could have summoned twelve legions of angels yet did not depose Caesar or Pilate, and the apostles taught new Christians to obey constituted powers, including Nero, for conscience's sake, not merely for fear. So toleration of heathen princes rests on conscience, not on lack of strength.

    Chapter 54

  4. How does Hobbes treat Bellarmine's argument from examples like Jehoiada and Ambrose?

    Hobbes answers that examples prove nothing and those cited make not even a probability of right. Jehoiada's killing of Athaliah was either by King Joash's authority or a horrible crime by a subject; Ambrose's excommunication of Theodosius, if true, was a capital crime; and papal judgments by Gregory I, Gregory II, Zachary, and Leo III are void as given in their own cause.

    Chapter 54

CHAPTER XLIII. OF WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR A MANS RECEPTION…4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, when is it lawful to disobey the civil sovereign?

    Hobbes holds that when a subject receives two contrary commands and knows one is God's, he ought to obey God rather than his lawful sovereign or father. But if the sovereign's command can be obeyed without forfeiting eternal life, disobedience is unjust. Only when obedience would bring eternal damnation is it madness to obey, and Christ's counsel applies: fear not those who kill the body.

    Chapter 55

  2. What two virtues does Hobbes say contain all that is necessary to salvation?

    Hobbes states that all necessary to salvation is contained in two virtues: Faith in Christ and Obedience to Laws. Perfect obedience would suffice, but since all are guilty of disobedience, both original in Adam and actual by our own transgressions, remission of past sins is also required, and that remission is the reward of faith in Christ. Heaven is shut only to the disobedient who do not repent and believe.

    Chapter 55

  3. What does Hobbes say is the only article of faith simply necessary to salvation?

    Hobbes argues the only article of faith that Scripture makes simply necessary to salvation is that Jesus is the Christ, meaning the King promised by the Old Testament prophets to reign eternally and give eternal life lost by Adam's sin. He supports this from the scope of the Evangelists, especially John 20:31, and from the subject of the Apostles' sermons, which preached the Kingdom of God.

    Chapter 55

  4. According to Hobbes, what is the ordinary cause of Christian belief?

    Hobbes argues Christian men do not know but only believe Scripture to be God's Word, and the ordinary means God affords is teaching, following Paul's 'Faith cometh by Hearing.' The immediate cause of faith is hearing lawful pastors and parents, though faith itself is God's gift given to whom he wills. He notes that in Christian commonwealths men believe or profess Scripture because taught from infancy, elsewhere scarce any do.

    Chapter 55

CHAPTER XLIV. OF SPIRITUALL DARKNESSE FROM… (part 1)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what is the Kingdom of Darkness?

    Hobbes defines the Kingdom of Darkness as "a Confederacy of Deceivers, that to obtain dominion over men in this present world, endeavour by dark, and erroneous Doctrines, to extinguish in them the Light, both of Nature, and of the Gospell; and so to dis-prepare them for the Kingdome of God to come." It is drawn from scriptural titles for Satan as prince of the power of the air.

    Chapter 56

  2. What four causes of spiritual darkness does Hobbes list?

    Hobbes names four: first, abusing and putting out the light of the Scriptures; second, introducing the Daemonology of the heathen poets, such as ghosts and fairies; third, mixing Scripture with relics of Greek religion and erroneous philosophy, especially Aristotle; fourth, mingling false or uncertain traditions and feigned history. He calls these tares sown in the night of natural ignorance.

    Chapter 56

  3. What does Hobbes call the greatest abuse of Scripture?

    The author argues the greatest abuse is wresting Scripture to prove that the Kingdom of God is the present Church, or Christian men now living or risen at the last day. Hobbes says that kingdom was first instituted by Moses over the Jews only, ceased at the election of Saul, and is not yet come; Christians are only in the Kingdom of Grace through the promise.

    Chapter 56

  4. How does Hobbes distinguish consecration from conjuration?

    Hobbes says to consecrate is to offer, give, or dedicate something to God by separating it from common use, changing not the thing but only its use, from profane to holy. When words are pretended to change the nature or quality of the thing itself, it is not consecration but either an extraordinary work of God or a vain and impious conjuration, contrary to the testimony of the senses.

    Chapter 56

CHAPTER XLIV. OF SPIRITUALL DARKNESSE FROM… (part 2)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what does "soul" always signify in Scripture?

    Hobbes argues that in Scripture the soul always signifies either the Life or the Living Creature, and Body and Soul jointly mean the Body Alive. He cites Genesis, where the same phrase is translated "living Creature" for animals and man, and Deuteronomy 12:23, "the Blood is the Soule," meaning the Life. If soul meant an incorporeal substance, it could be inferred of any living creature, not just man.

    Chapter 57

  2. What does Hobbes say "Body and Soul cast into hell fire" really means?

    Hobbes argues it means no more than Body and Life: the wicked shall be cast alive into the perpetual fire of Gehenna. He denies that the passage implies an incorporeal soul tormented separately. He also holds that the souls of the faithful remain in their bodies from the Resurrection to eternity not by their own nature but by God's special grace, as he claims to have proved in Chapter 38.

    Chapter 57

  3. How does Hobbes explain Christ's words in Mark 9:1 about some not tasting death?

    Hobbes rejects Beza's reading that Christ's kingdom began at the Resurrection, noting that then all, not "some," would have seen it, since all lived until after the Resurrection. He conjectures the words refer to the Transfiguration, described immediately after, where Peter, James, and John saw Christ in glory and majesty. Matthew 17:9 calls it a Vision, and Christ charged them to tell no man until the Son of man be risen.

    Chapter 57

  4. What does Hobbes claim about the origin of Purgatory and exorcism doctrines?

    Hobbes argues that the misinterpretation of soul as an incorporeal substance opened the way to doctrines of eternal torments, then Purgatory, then ghosts walking in consecrated or dark places, and thereby to exorcism, conjuration, invocation of the dead, and indulgences. He says the Church of Rome found Purgatory more profitable than the earlier notion that souls lay under the Altars until the Resurrection.

    Chapter 57

CHAPTER XLIV. OF SPIRITUALL DARKNESSE FROM… (part 3)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what happens to the wicked after the Resurrection?

    The author argues the wicked (Reprobate) rise with gross, corruptible bodies, may marry and propagate perpetually, and receive a Second and Eternal Death. Between their Resurrection and that Second Death is a time of punishment and torment, lasting by succession of sinners as long as mankind endures, which he calls eternal. Only the Elect are children of the Resurrection and die no more.

    Chapter 58

  2. How does Hobbes answer Bellarmine's use of David's fasting for Saul and Abner?

    Bellarmine argued David fasted to obtain something for the dead, proving souls exist in a third place, Purgatory. Hobbes replies mourning and fasting are done either for honour to the person or from the mourners' own loss. David honoured Saul and Abner, but after his own child died he ate ordinary food. So these texts prove nothing about Purgatory.

    Chapter 58

  3. What are Hobbes's three worlds, and why does Purgatory conflict with them?

    Hobbes says Scripture shows three worlds: the Old World from Creation to the Flood, destroyed by water; the Present World from the Flood to Judgment, to be destroyed by fire; and the World to Come, everlasting from Judgment forward. Since all agree there is no Purgatory in the World to Come, the World to Come and Purgatory are inconsistent.

    Chapter 58

  4. How does Hobbes interpret the fire of 1 Cor. 3 that saves a man 'as through fire'?

    Hobbes reads it as an allusion to Zechariah 13:9, the refining at Christ's coming and the conflagration of the present world. The foundation is that Jesus is the Christ; pastors build stubble and hay, meaning false doctrines drawn from ignorance or frailty, which are singed off. The gold and silver are true doctrines; the purging is relinquishing errors, not burning incorporeal souls.

    Chapter 58

CHAPTER XLV. OF DAEMONOLOGY, AND OTHER RELIQUES OF THE… (part 1)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what did ancient people mistake dream images for?

    Hobbes argues that sight arises from motion in the organs, and that imagination, memory, and dreams are lingering motions after the object is removed. Because the ancients never discovered this nature of sight, they took the images in fancy and sense for real things outside us—calling them Daemons, whether as incorporeal forms or as subtle airy bodies.

    Chapter 59

  2. How did heathen governors use Daemonology, per Hobbes?

    Hobbes argues that because people feared these apparitions as beings of unlimited power to help or harm, heathen governors regulated that fear by establishing Daemonology, with the poets as its principal priests. Some daemons were made good, as a spur to obey the laws, and others evil, as reins to restrain violation of them, all directed to public peace and obedience.

    Chapter 59

  3. What did the Jews mean by 'Daemon' and 'Daemoniaques'?

    Hobbes says the Greeks applied 'Daemon' to both good and evil spirits, but the Jews used it only for evil ones, calling good ones the Spirit of God. So Daemoniaques meant those possessed by a devil—such as madmen, lunatics, the falling sickness, the dumb, or the unclean—and even John Baptist and Christ were accused of having a devil.

    Chapter 59

  4. Why does Hobbes say Christ did not contradict belief in spirits?

    Hobbes argues Christ's command to devils is no more improper than rebuking a fever, wind, or sea, since such speech signifies the power of God's Word. He also finds no Scripture showing spirits are incorporeal, and reads Satan entering Judas as the traitorous intention itself. Christ left such natural questions to human industry, since his scope was only the way to salvation.

    Chapter 59

CHAPTER XLV. OF DAEMONOLOGY, AND OTHER RELIQUES OF THE… (part 2)2 cards
  1. What is scandalous worship of images, and when is it sin?

    Scandalous worship is seeming worship that may coexist with inward detestation of the image, done from fear of death or punishment. It is sin in those whose actions others look to as lights—especially a lawfully called pastor or one of great reputation—unless he makes his fear and unwillingness as evident as the worship. A private unlearned man's compliance is no scandal given.

    Chapter 60

  2. Why does Hobbes say worshiping Christ is not idolatry, but Eucharist adoration may be?

    Hobbes argues worshiping Christ as God incarnate is no idolatry because the belief rests on God's Word revealed in Scripture, not on one's own fancy. Adoration of the Eucharist is not idolatry if Christ's words 'This is my Body' mean what it claims, since authorized by the Savior; but if that text does not mean it, it is worship of human institution and therefore idolatry.

    Chapter 60

CHAPTER XLV. OF DAEMONOLOGY, AND OTHER RELIQUES OF THE… (part 3)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what was the origin of canonizing saints?

    The author argues canonizing saints is a relic of Gentilism, as ancient as the Roman Commonwealth itself. The first canonized at Rome was Romulus, after Julius Proculus swore before the Senate that he had spoken with Romulus after death and that he dwelt in Heaven as Quirinius. The Senate then gave public testimony of his sanctity. Julius Caesar and later emperors received the same testimony, which Hobbes says is the same as the heathen Apotheosis.

    Chapter 61

  2. How did the popes come to hold the name and power of Pontifex Maximus?

    Hobbes says the name and power came from the Roman heathen: the Pontifex Maximus had supreme authority under the Senate and people over ceremonies and religious doctrine. Augustus took this office plus that of Tribune. Constantine, the first Christian emperor, had religion regulated under his authority by the Bishop of Rome. Hobbes argues the later bishops took the name themselves, and that papal authority rested on the privilege of the city of Rome, not on St. Peter.

    Chapter 61

  3. What does Hobbes say about the authority of the Pope over other bishops?

    The author argues there is no place for the Pope's superiority over other bishops except in territories where he is himself the civil sovereign, or where the emperor, holding sovereign civil power, has expressly chosen the Pope as chief pastor under himself over his Christian subjects. Hobbes notes the Bishop of Constantinople claimed equality with Rome when the emperor moved the seat of empire there, and that the Pope's claim was in right of the emperor and within the bounds of the empire.

    Chapter 61

  4. Which Roman and Greek practices does Hobbes list as surviving in the Church?

    Hobbes lists processions of images, borrowed from Greek and Roman idol processions with chariots (Thensa) and shrines (Ferculum); wax candles and torches carried before images, later before bishops; holy water (Aqua Lustralis); and holy days matching Bacchanalia (Wakes), Saturnalia (Carnevalls), the Priapus procession (May-poles), and Ambarvalia (Rogation Week processions). He calls these old empty bottles of Gentilism refilled with new wine.

    Chapter 61

CHAPTER XLVI. OF DARKNESSE FROM VAIN PHILOSOPHY, AND… (part 1)4 cards
  1. How does Hobbes define philosophy?

    Hobbes defines philosophy as knowledge acquired by reasoning, either from the manner of generation of a thing to its properties, or from properties to a possible way of generation, so that humans can produce effects useful to life as far as matter and human force permit. He illustrates with geometry and astronomy, which yield practical benefits like measuring land and keeping account of time.

    Chapter 62

  2. Why does Hobbes exclude prudence, false doctrine, revelation, and book-learning from philosophy?

    Hobbes excludes prudence because it is experience, not reasoning, and is found in brute beasts too. He excludes false conclusions since right reasoning cannot end in error. He excludes supernatural revelation because it is not acquired by reasoning. He excludes knowledge taken on the authority of books, since that is faith, not reasoning from cause to effect or effect to cause.

    Chapter 62

  3. What does Hobbes say about the utility of the Greek schools?

    Hobbes argues the Greek schools were unprofitable: geometry, the mother of natural science, was not owed to them, and Plato barred non-geometricians from his school. Their natural philosophy he calls rather a dream than science, their moral philosophy a description of their own passions, and their logic mere captions of words. He concludes nothing is so absurd that some old philosopher did not maintain it.

    Chapter 62

  4. How does Hobbes describe the origin of universities and their philosophy?

    Hobbes defines a university as an incorporation under one government of many public schools in one town, with principal schools for Roman religion, Roman law, and medicine. Philosophy there serves only as handmaid to Roman religion, and since only Aristotle's authority current, that study is not properly philosophy but 'Aristotelity.' Geometry had almost no place and its skilled practitioners were often thought magicians.

    Chapter 62

CHAPTER XLVI. OF DARKNESSE FROM VAIN PHILOSOPHY, AND… (part 2)4 cards
  1. What absurdities does Hobbes say follow from belief in an incorporeal soul?

    Hobbes argues that believers in an incorporeal soul must accept that the whole soul is in every part of the body yet no more in the whole than in one part, and cannot explain how an incorporeal substance suffers pain in hell or moves from place to place. He says they resort to empty distinctions like walking 'definitively' not 'circumscriptively.'

    Chapter 63

  2. How does Hobbes criticize the scholastic definition of heaviness as a cause of falling?

    Hobbes says the Schools define heavy bodies as those that sink, and heaviness as an endeavour to go to the center of the Earth, so the cause of descending is an endeavour to be below—which is saying bodies descend because they do. He adds this treats stones and metals as if they desired rest or could discern where to be.

    Chapter 63

  3. What does Hobbes say about Aristotle's claim that laws, not men, should govern?

    Hobbes calls it a pernicious error, asking who does not find himself governed by those he fears and believes can hurt him, or believes laws—mere words and paper—can hurt without the hands and swords of men. He says this error encourages men to think it lawful to make war on governors they dislike.

    Chapter 63

  4. Why does Hobbes call the private measure of good and evil pernicious in a commonwealth?

    Hobbes says Aristotle and heathen philosophers define good and evil by men's appetites, which works only where men have no law but their own appetites. In a commonwealth, he argues, the measure must be the law—the will and appetite of the state—not private passion, and judging by private appetite is vain and pernicious to the public state.

    Chapter 63

CHAPTER XLVI. OF DARKNESSE FROM VAIN PHILOSOPHY, AND… (part 3)3 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, what discoveries challenge ecclesiastical punishment of supposedly heretical doctrine?

    Hobbes cites navigations proving the Antipodes exist and the growing evidence that years and days are determined by motions of the Earth. Men who merely supposed such doctrines to open debate were punished by ecclesiastical authority, which Hobbes questions since opinions contrary to true religion cannot be true if the opinions are true.

    Chapter 64

  2. What three reasons does Hobbes examine for silencing controversial opinions?

    Hobbes asks whether such opinions are contrary to true religion (impossible if true), contrary to established religion (then silence them by civil laws, since disobedience may be punished even when teaching true philosophy), or tending to disorder in government (then punish teachers by civil authority). Each case resolves to civil, not ecclesiastical, power.

    Chapter 64

  3. What does Hobbes say about ecclesiastical power claimed where clergy are subject to the state?

    Hobbes argues that whatever power ecclesiastical authorities take upon themselves in a place where they are subject to the state, claimed in their own right even under the name of God's right, is merely usurpation. Silencing and punishing teachers belongs to civil authority, which holds care of the public quiet.

    Chapter 64

CHAPTER XLVII. OF THE BENEFIT THAT PROCEEDETH FROM SUCH… (part 1)4 cards
  1. By what rule does Hobbes judge who authored the doctrines of spiritual darkness?

    Hobbes adopts the Roman judge Cassius's rule of Cui Bono: ask what profit, honor, or contentment the accused gains from the fact. He argues that among presumptions, none so evidently reveals an author as the benefit of the action, so he applies this test to identify who benefits from doctrines contrary to peaceful society.

    Chapter 65

  2. What worldly benefit does Hobbes say follows from teaching that the Church Militant is God's Kingdom?

    Hobbes argues that if the present Church on earth is God's Kingdom, pastors become God's public ministers with a right to govern the Church, and since Church and commonwealth are the same persons, to govern the commonwealth. This title let the Pope claim universal monarchy over Christendom and persuade subjects to abandon lawful sovereigns.

    Chapter 65

  3. Which doctrines does Hobbes list as serving the clergy to retain spiritual sovereignty?

    Hobbes lists papal infallibility in public capacity; bishops deriving right from the Pope rather than civil sovereigns; clergy exemption from civil laws; calling priests Sacerdotes and the Lord's Supper a sacrifice; matrimony as a sacrament; denying priests marriage; auricular confession; canonization of saints and martyrs; priestly power over penance and absolution; purgatory, justification by external works, and indulgences; demonology and exorcism; and Scholastic Aristotelian philosophy in universities.

    Chapter 65

  4. How does Hobbes describe the three knots that built papal power and their dissolution in England?

    Hobbes argues power was woven from apostolic virtue, then knotted three times: presbyters binding themselves to assembly decrees, chief-city presbyters taking authority over parish presbyters as bishops, and the Bishop of Rome claiming authority over all bishops. He says Elizabeth dissolved the papal knot, Presbyterians dissolved episcopacy, and then Presbyterian power fell, leaving primitive Christian independency.

    Chapter 65

CHAPTER XLVII. OF THE BENEFIT THAT PROCEEDETH FROM SUCH… (part 2)3 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, when does a person become subject to a conqueror?

    Hobbes says a man becomes a conqueror's subject at the point when, having liberty to submit, he consents by express words or other sufficient sign to be his subject. A soldier under a new obligation may not submit while the old power keeps the field and provides subsistence, but may lawfully submit when that also fails.

    Chapter 66

  2. Why does Hobbes reject the claim that human nature cannot meet civil duties?

    Hobbes answers that these are great difficulties but not impossibilities, since education and discipline can reconcile them. Judgment and fancy may occupy the same man by turns; reason and eloquence can coexist, especially in moral matters. He cites his friend Sidney Godolphin as an example of courage in war and fear of the laws combined in one man.

    Chapter 66

  3. What does Hobbes say about the name of tyranny and hatred of it?

    Hobbes argues that 'tyranny' signifies nothing more or less than 'sovereignty,' whether in one man or many, except that users of the former word are understood to be angry with those they call tyrants. He therefore holds that tolerating professed hatred of tyranny is tolerating hatred of commonwealth in general, calling it another evil seed.

    Chapter 66

CHAPTER XLVII. OF THE BENEFIT THAT PROCEEDETH FROM SUCH… (part 3)4 cards
  1. According to Hobbes, why do people praise ancient authors?

    Hobbes argues that praise of ancient authors does not come from reverence for the dead but from competition and mutual envy among the living. He notes that those honored were simply more ancient when they wrote than he is now. The reputation of antiquity, in his view, reflects present rivalry rather than genuine respect for the past.

    Chapter 67

  2. What does Hobbes claim about the content of his discourse?

    Hobbes concludes that nothing in this whole discourse, nor in his earlier Latin work on the same subject, is contrary to the Word of God, to good manners, or to public tranquility, as far as he can perceive. He therefore thinks it may be profitably printed and even more profitably taught in the universities, if those with judgment agree.

    Chapter 67

  3. Why does Hobbes say universities need pure doctrine?

    Hobbes calls the universities the fountains of civil and moral doctrine, from which preachers and gentry draw water to sprinkle on the people from pulpit and in conversation. He says great care must be taken to keep this water pure from the venom of heathen politicians and the incantation of deceiving spirits, so people knowing their duties will less serve the ambition of discontented persons against the state.

    Chapter 67

  4. What mutual relation does Hobbes say his discourse sets before men's eyes?

    Hobbes says his discourse on civil and ecclesiastical government, occasioned by the disorders of the present time, was written without partiality, application, or other design than to set before men's eyes the mutual relation between Protection and Obedience. He holds that human nature and divine laws, both natural and positive, require this relation's inviolable observation.

    Chapter 67

Source and licence

Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #3207 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.

Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-10-22. Cards reviewed 2026-10-22.

These cards paraphrase the text for study. They are not a substitute for reading the book, and they do not reproduce long passages.

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