Subject Analysis in Leviathan

A subject is a person within a common-wealth, who willingly forfeits their right to self-preservation to a sovereign power through a covenant. Once a subject enters into a covenant and agrees to join a common-wealth, they are not obligated to observe any other contract or power, and they cannot enter into any future covenants in which the same kind of power is transferred. The subject of a common-wealth must obey their sovereign above all others, including God. Christ’s Apostles ordered converts to obey their earthly masters in all things, and it is the same for the subject of a common-wealth. Even if a sovereign’s will is against God’s will, Hobbes maintains that a subject can safely obey their sovereign without offending God. God is the spiritual sovereign, but his dominion will not begin until Christ’s second coming, at which time the saved will enter God’s Kingdome through a covenant. Until then, Hobbes argues, a subject must obey the earthly sovereign of their common-wealth in all things.

Subject Quotes in Leviathan

The Leviathan quotes below are all either spoken by Subject or refer to Subject. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Nature, War, and Civil Society Theme Icon

And words whereby we conceive nothing but the sound, are those we call Absurd, Insignificant, and Non-sense. And therefore if a man should talk to me of a round Quadrangle; or accidents of Bread in Cheese; or Immateriall Substances; or of A free Subject; A free-Will; or any Free, but free from being hindered by opposition, I should not say he were in an Errour; but that his words were without meaning; that is to say, Absurd.

Related Characters: Thomas Hobbes (speaker), Christ

Page Number and Citation: 113

Explanation and Analysis:

And therefore the voluntary actions, and inclinations of all men, tend, not only to the procuring, but also to the assuring of a contented life; and differ onely in the way: which ariseth partly from the diversity of passions, in divers men; and partly from the difference of the knowledge, or opinion each one has of the causes, which produce the effect desired.

Related Characters: Thomas Hobbes (speaker), God

Page Number and Citation: 161

Explanation and Analysis:

For who is there that does not see, to whose benefit it conduceth, to have it believed, that a King hath not his Authority from Christ, unlesse a Bishop crown him? That a King, if he be a Priest, cannot Marry? That whether a Prince be born in lawfull Marriage, or not, must be judged by Authority from Rome? That Subjects may be freed from their Alleageance, if by the Court of Rome, the King be judged a Heretique? That a King (as Chilperique of France) may be deposed by a Pope (as Pope Zachary,) for no cause; and his Kingdome given to one of his Subjects?

Related Characters: Thomas Hobbes (speaker), Christ

Page Number and Citation: 182

Explanation and Analysis:

Fifthly, and consequently to that which was sayd last, no man that hath Soveraigne power can justly be put to death, or otherwise in any manner by his Subjects punished. For seeing every Subject is Author of the actions of his Soveraigne; he punisheth another, for the actions committed by himselfe.

Related Characters: Thomas Hobbes (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 232

Explanation and Analysis:

Of which, this is one, That a man to obtain a Kingdome, is sometimes content with lesse Power, that to the Peace, and defence of the Common-wealth is necessarily required.

Related Characters: Thomas Hobbes (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 364

Explanation and Analysis:

To the contrary, I find the Kingdome of God, to signifie in most places of Scripture, a Kingdome properly so named, constituted by the Votes of the People of Israel in peculiar manner; wherein they chose God for their King by Covenant made with him, upon Gods promising them the possession of the land of Canaan; and but seldom metaphorically; and then it is taken for Dominion over sinne; (and only in the New Testament;) because such a Dominion as that, every Subject shall have in the Kingdome of God, and without prejudice to the Soveraign.

Related Characters: Thomas Hobbes (speaker), God

Page Number and Citation: 442

Explanation and Analysis:

To this, and such like resemblances between the Papacy, and the Kingdome of Fairies, may be added this, that as the Fairies have no existence, but in the Fancies of ignorant people, rising from the Traditions of old Wives, or old Poets: so the Spirituall Power of the Pope (without the bounds of his own Civil Dominion) consisteth onely in the Fear that Seduced people stand in, of the Excommunication; upon hearing of false Miracles, false Traditions, and false Interpretations of the Scripture.

Related Characters: Thomas Hobbes (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 714

Explanation and Analysis:

Subject Term Timeline in Leviathan

The timeline below shows where the term Subject appears in Leviathan. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Power, Common-wealths, and Monarchies Theme Icon

...a common-wealth is the sovereign, and those whom the sovereign has power over are called subjects. Sovereign power is obtained either by natural force (common-wealth by acquisition), such as one who... (full context)

The sovereign power has the right to make the rules of a common-wealth, whereby every subject and their property is protected from injustice, and the sovereign power also has the right... (full context)

In common-wealths where a sovereign power has already been determined, the subjects can elect no other power, as that power would be contrary to the first power... (full context)

...child can only be known by a mother’s word. If the mother is herself the subject of a man who also fathers her children, the power of dominion is with the... (full context)

...in a war, is known as “despoticall,” and it signifies a master with dominion over subjects. Dominion of the victor over the vanquished is obtained when the vanquished enter into a... (full context)

...sovereign power can never be abolished or limited, as nothing the sovereign does to a subject can ever be considered an injury or injustice. This is because the subject is author... (full context)

True liberty means that a subject can refuse to do certain things, even if those things are commanded by the sovereign... (full context)

A subject has a right to refuse the sovereign power’s commands if the refusal does not affect... (full context)

In instances where there are no established laws, a subject is at liberty to behave as he or she pleases. If there is controversy between... (full context)

A subject’s obligation to the sovereign power lasts as long as the common-wealth, and the right to... (full context)

...of the common-wealth’s sovereign power. Private systems, on the other hand, are those made by subjects themselves. Private systems that are allowed by the sovereign power are lawful, but all other... (full context)

...does to violate the laws of a sovereign power is not the act of all subjects in the body politic. If the representative of a political body is an assembly, whatever... (full context)

If a private member of a common-wealth has more servants than the common-wealth has subjects, this is considered an unlawful faction. Since the common-wealth is responsible for protecting all members,... (full context)

...by another judge, as both the judge and judged are members of the common-wealth and subjects of the sovereign power. In such instances, the sovereign power may hear the case or... (full context)

Public ministers employed by the sovereign power have authority to apprehend, judge, punish, and imprison subjects of a common-wealth. Public ministers who work abroad on behalf of the common-wealth are known... (full context)

...of distribution is the division of land, and the sovereign power is to assign each subject a portion of land that is “agreeable to Equity, and the Common Good.” A subject... (full context)

...technically a breach of the Law of Nature; however, this breech does not authorize a subject to make war on the sovereign power, accuse the sovereign of injustice, or insult the... (full context)

By civil laws, Hobbes means those laws one is obligated to follow as a subject of a common-wealth. To be clear, Hobbes does not mean the laws of a specific... (full context)

If the sovereign power of one common-wealth takes over the subjects of another common-wealth and then governs by the same laws as the defeated sovereign, the... (full context)

Subjects of a common-wealth are obligated to do their best to educate themselves of any written... (full context)

...and crimes against the common-wealth are always thought greater than crimes committed against a private subject. Crimes involving bribery or the giving of false testimony are considered greater than other crimes,... (full context)

...someone who has broken the law and gone before a judge. The right to punish subjects comes from the covenant of the common-wealth, which imbues the sovereign with the power to... (full context)

...sovereign power. Salaries are either certain and come from the public coffers (as in a subject who is paid a certain wage for doing a certain job for the common-wealth), or... (full context)

...the sovereign power. Disease in the common-wealth is also caused by the belief that individual subjects can determine good actions from bad actions. As a common-wealth is not a state of... (full context)

...and Reason” is also damaging to a common-wealth, and so is holding a sovereign power subject to civil laws. A sovereign power is not a subject of the common-wealth; thus, a... (full context)

The sovereign exists for the safety of the subjects of the common-wealth, and the sovereign is obligated by the Laws of Nature to serve... (full context)

Subjects of a common-wealth should be taught not to envy the government of neighboring nations. What... (full context)

...the people of a common-wealth that justice is administered by the sovereign equally to all subjects. Breaking a law is always a crime against the common-wealth, and at times, a crime... (full context)

...from acts of the sovereign, which is why equal taxes are important for equality of subjects. If a subject is not able to support themselves by their own labor, they should... (full context)

...also appoint a commander of the Army, and if said commander is not popular among subjects, the commander cannot be loved or feared as they should to be an effective leader.... (full context)

...function to avoid this war. Without a sovereign power, a common-wealth cannot stand, and the subjects of a common-wealth must be obedient to the sovereign in all ways, provided that obedience... (full context)

All people are subjects of “Divine Power,” even if they deny the existence of God. “[M]en may shake off... (full context)

Laws must be sufficiently made known to subjects, and God’s laws are no different. God declares his laws in three ways: through “Naturall... (full context)

...people suffer. God’s “Divine Lawes, or Dictates of Natural Reason,” outline the duties of his subjects, to each other and to God, and these laws include the Laws of Nature defined... (full context)

...higher power or the goodness of another, and it is the duty of all God’s subjects to honor God, which means they must hold the highest possible opinion of him. Furthermore,... (full context)

Subjects of God are to honor God’s existence, as it is impossible to honor that which... (full context)

...is thought to be due to the mystery of God. When God speaks to a subject, it is done immediately or through another person. God speaking immediately can only be understood... (full context)

...God is the “Soveraign [Sovereign] of all Soveraigns” and therefore should be obeyed; however, a subject must also know when and what God commanded, which cannot be known without “supernaturall revelation.”... (full context)

...to do if their sovereign power, such as a king or a senate, forbids their subjects to believe in Christ. To forbid one to believe or not believe in any one... (full context)

A sovereign king can tell his subjects what to do and forbid public gatherings and practices associated with Christianity, but a king... (full context)

...Christian, one can still obey the sovereign without offending God, even if that sovereign requires subjects to publicly renounce God. Faith is “internall, and invisible,” Hobbes says, and God does not... (full context)

Subject Term Analysis

Subject Quotes in Leviathan

Subject Term Timeline in Leviathan