Taming the Leviathan: The Reception of the Political and Religious Ideas of Thomas Hobbes in England 1640–1700 (Ideas in Context, Series Number 82)

Thomas Hobbes is widely acknowledged as the most important political philosopher to have written in English. Originally published in 2007, Taming the Leviathan is a wide-ranging study of the English reception of Hobbes's ideas. In the first book-length treatment of the topic for over forty years, Jon Parkin follows the fate of Hobbes's texts (particularly Leviathan) and the development of his controversial reputation during the seventeenth century, revealing the stakes in the critical discussion of the philosopher and his ideas. Revising the traditional view that Hobbes was simply rejected by his contemporaries, Parkin demonstrates that Hobbes's work was too useful for them to ignore, but too radical to leave unchallenged. His texts therefore had to be controlled, their lessons absorbed and their author discredited. In other words the Leviathan had to be tamed. Taming the Leviathan significantly revised our understanding of the role of Hobbes and Hobbism in seventeenth-century England. Cover......Page 1 Frontmatter......Page 2 Contents......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 11 Introduction......Page 14 1 - Reading Hobbes before Leviathan (1640--1651)......Page 31 2 - Leviathan (1651--1654)......Page 98 3 - The storm (1654--1658)......Page 149 4 - Restoration (1658--1666)......Page 213 5 - Hobbes and Hobbism (1666--1675)......Page 251 6 - Hobbes and the Restoration crisis (1675--1685)......Page 325 7 - Hobbism in the Glorious Revolution (1685--1700)......Page 391 Conclusion......Page 423 Bibliography......Page 430 Index......Page 449 Ideas in Context......Page 463 Cover 1 Frontmatter 2 Contents 10 Acknowledgements 11 Introduction 14 1 - Reading Hobbes before Leviathan (1640--1651) 31 2 - Leviathan (1651--1654) 98 3 - The storm (1654--1658) 149 4 - Restoration (1658--1666) 213 5 - Hobbes and Hobbism (1666--1675) 251 6 - Hobbes and the Restoration crisis (1675--1685) 325 7 - Hobbism in the Glorious Revolution (1685--1700) 391 Conclusion 423 Bibliography 430 Index 449 Ideas in Context 463 9780521168311 Ideas in Context (No. 82) "Taming the Leviathan is a wide-ranging study of the English reception of Hobbes's political and religious ideas. In the first book-length treatment of the topic for over forty years, Jon Parkin follows the fate of Hobbes's texts (particularly Leviathan) and the development of his controversial reputation during the seventeenth century, revealing the stakes in the critical discussion of the philosopher and his ideas."--Jacket Parkin presents a wide-ranging study of the English reception of Hobbes's political and religious ideas. 'Taming the Leviathan' significantly revises our understanding of the role of Hobbes and Hobbism in 17th century England