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Text A Of the Causes Generation and Definition of a Commonweah1（第1页）

TextAOftheCauses，Geioionofaoh1

ThomasHobbes

Pre-reading

ThomasHobbes（1588-1679）wasoEnglishphilosophersandpoliticaltheorists，ahetralfiguresofBritishempiricism。HobbesstudiedatOxford，wherehelearhephilosophyofPlatoand，especially，Aristotlethatstayedforlife。AftergraduatiohefamilyoftheEarls（laterDukes）ofDevoorahhispupilinEuragedGalileoinphilosophicaldissoureofmotion。

&uropoliticaltheory，buthissupportforabsolutismputhimatoddswiththerisingantiroyalistsehetime。HefledtoParisin1640，wherehetutoredthefutureKingCharlesⅡofEngland。Iehisbest-knowhan（1651），iedtojustifytheabsolutepowerofthesnonthebasisofahypotheticalsotrawhidividualsseektoprotectthemselvesfromoherbyagreeihesninallmatters。Hobbesheldthatthegreatestthreattohumaywastheanarchyofthe“Stateofhattoavoidthathorrifidition，wherelifewas“solitary，poor，nasty，brutish，andshort”，atracttoestablishashsuffitauthoritytoenfordmaintainorder。

&urainin1651afterthedeathofCharlesⅠ。In1666Parliameoiehimasa。Hisworksaresideredimportaheideasofliberalismaswellasofthelongstandingassumptionsofabsolutismcharacteristies。

Promptsf

1。Whatarethecharacteristicsoftheso-calledpoliticalcreatures?

2。Whatarethesixdiffereweenhumanbeingsandpoliticalcreatures?

3。Forosesdoestheauthoransandpoliticalcreatures?

4。Whatarethefunmonpower?

5。Whatisaoh?

6。Whomdoestheohinaoh?

7。Whydopeoplehavetogiveupsomeoftheirindividualrightsinaoh?

8。Whatarethetwowaysofattainingsnpower?

9。Whatiscalledaohbya?

10。Whatiscalledaohbyinstitution?

[1]Itistruethatliviures，asbeesandants，livesoewithanother（whicharethereforebyAristotle2politicalcreatures），ahaveioicularjudgmentsaes;norspeech，wherebyohemifytoahethifortheo:andthereforesomemanmayperhapsdesiretoknowwhymankinde。To>

[2]Firstly，thatmeinuallyiionfnity，whichthesecreaturesarenot;alyamoherearisethonthatground，envy，andhatred，andfinallywar;butamoso。

[3]Sedly，thatamourestheongooddifferethnotfromtheprivate;andbeingbynatureiheirprivate，theyprocuretherebytheoman，whosejoysistethinparihothermehingbutwhatisemi。

[4]Thirdly，thatthesecreatures，havingnot，asman，theuseofreason，dohinktheysee，anyfaultirationoftheironbusiness:whereasamohereareverymanythatthinkthemselveswiseraogovernthepublic，betterthahesestrivetoreformandihisway，away;andtherebybringitintodistradcivil>

[5]Fourthly，thatthesecreatures，thoughtheyhavesomeuseofvoimakingknowhertheirdesiresaioheywantthatartofwordsbywhieoothersthatwhichisgoodinthelikenessofevil;ahelikenessofgood;aordimigreatnessofgoodandevil，disgmenandtroublingtheirpeaceattheirpleasure。

[6]Fifthly，irratiouresotdistiweeninjuryaherefastheybeatease，theyarehtheirfellows，whereasmaroublesomewheatease;forthenitisthathelovestoshowhiswisdom，andtroltheathatgoverntheoh。

[7]Lastly，theagreemeuresisnatural;thatofmenisbyt4only，whichisartifidthereforeitisherebesomewhatelserequired，besidest，tomaketheiragreementtandlasting，owertokeepthemiodirecttheirao。

[8]Theonlywaytoerectsuonpower，asmaybeabletodefeheinvasiheinjuriesofoherebytosecuretheminsuchsortasthatbytheirownindustryasoftheearththeymaynourishthemselvesaedly，istoferalltheirpowerahupononeman，orupononeassemblyofmen，thatmayreducealltheirwills，bypluralityofvoitoonewill，whichisasmuchastosay，toappointoneman，orassemblyofmeheirpersooownandaowledgehimselftobeauthorofwhatsoeverhethatsobeareththeirpersonshallact，orcausetobeathosethingswhitheonpeadsafety;aosubmittheirwills，everyoohiswill，andtheirjudgmentstohisjudgment。Thisismoretha，orcord5;itisarealunityofthemallihesameperson，madebyanwitheveryman，insuerasifeverymanshouldsaytoeveryman:Iauthiveupmyrightmyselftothisman，ortothisassemblyofmen，onthis，thatthougiveupthyrighttohim，andauthorizeallhisalikemahisdoudesounitedinonepersoniscalledaOH;inLatin，CIVITAS。ThisisthegeionofthatgreatLEVIATHAN6，orrather，tospeakmorereverently，ofthatModtoe，ualGod，ourpeaddefense。Forbythisauthiveiintheoh，hehaththeuseofsomuchpowerahferredonhimthat，byterrorthereof，heiseoformthewillsofthemall，topeautualaidagainsttheirenemiesabroad。Andinhimsisteththeesseheoh，which，todefi，is:oneperson，ofwhoseactsagreatmultitude，bymutualtsohanother，havemadethemselveseveryohor，totheendhemayusethestrengthahemallasheshallthiheirpeaondefense。

[9]AcarryeththispersoniscalledSN，andsaidtohaveSnPower;andeveryonebesides，hisSUBJECT。