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Life
Without government, life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. He built political philosophy on fear.
The mind begins as a blank slate. All knowledge comes from experience. He wrote the philosophy that launched modern democracy.
Connection
Thomas Hobbes rival on social contract John Locke — Locke's political philosophy was partly a response to Hobbes: both grounded government in consent, but Locke insisted on natural rights.
Ideas
Words
“The life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
“Words are the counters of wise men, and the money of fools.”
“No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience.”
Key Moments
1588 CE
Born in Westport, Wiltshire
1640 CE
Flees to Paris
1651 CE
Publishes Leviathan
1679 CE
Death at Ninety-One
1632 CE
Born in Wrington, Somerset
1689 CE
Publishes Essay Concerning Human Understanding
1689 CE
Returns to England After the Glorious Revolution
1690 CE
Two Treatises of Government
Works
Leviathan
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding