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"Review from previous edition "lucid introduction to the first great English political philosopher."--The Times
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Thomas Hobbes, the first great English political philosopher, has long had the reputation of being a pessimistic atheist, who saw human nature as inevitably evil and proposed a totalitarian state to subdue human failings. In this illuminating study, Richard Tuck re-evaluates Hobbes's philosophy and dispels these myths, revealing him to have been passionately concerned with the refutation of scepticism, and to have developed a theory of knowledge which rivalled that of Descartes in its importance.
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It is sometimes tempting to think that the heroes of the various histories of philosophy or ethics - men as different as St Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Luther, Hobbes, Kant, or Hegel - were all in some sense engaged on a common enterprise, and would have recognized one another as fellow workers. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
It is sometimes tempting to think that the heroes of the various histories of philosophy or ethics - men as different as St Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Luther, Hobbes, Kant, or Hegel - were all in some sense engaged on a common enterprise, and would have recognized one another as fellow workers. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This Very Short Introduction is actually a republication of Oxford's Past Masters volume on Hobbes, and it lends itself quite well to the VSI format. Split into three main sections, in the first, we are introduced to Hobbes's remarkable and often turbulent life and the various intellectual contexts in which he operated. The second chapter focuses more closely on the arguments advanced in his philosophical works. The third chapter considers later interpretations of the man and his work.
Tuck is clearly an authority on Hobbes and conveys a lot of information in the short space provided, but I didn't find it the most readable of books - the prose seems to suffer from being a little too dry and crammed with academic detail. Still it's well-organised, and usefully covers not only Hobbes's political philosophy but also his thoughts on science, religion and ethics. Just not quite up to the standard of some of the other philosophy VSI's (Plato, Kant, Aristotle...) This is by no means a bad book however, and if you're seeking a foundation for further study, it's a reasonably good and inexpensive choice.
Tuck is clearly an authority on Hobbes and conveys a lot of information in the short space provided, but I didn't find it the most readable of books - the prose seems to suffer from being a little too dry and crammed with academic detail. Still it's well-organised, and usefully covers not only Hobbes's political philosophy but also his thoughts on science, religion and ethics. Just not quite up to the standard of some of the other philosophy VSI's (Plato, Kant, Aristotle...) This is by no means a bad book however, and if you're seeking a foundation for further study, it's a reasonably good and inexpensive choice.
Format:Paperback
A very good treatment of Hobbes by an expert in this field. At places you may consider re-reading the passage to grasp the concept discussed but it is worth the effort as you would realise why Hobbes is still considered so important in the tradition of western political philosophy. There is much to be learnt from his life and work in this sympathetic introduction.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5 reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
An introduction to Hobbes written with clarity and grace
6 April 2000
Format:Paperback
When I read British philosophy as an undergraduate, I skimmed over Hobbes and focused primarily on Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. It was not until recently that I realized the importance of Hobbes's political thought. Therefore, I decided to read Hobbes's "Leviathan." Having previously discovered the outstanding little books in the "Past Masters" series published by the Oxford University Press, I first looked to see if the series included a title on Hobbes, and I found Tuck's book, which I read before reading "Leviathan." Tuck's "Hobbes" provided me with a good foundation for reading "Leviathan," and Tuck greatly increased my appreciation for Hobbes. Tuck is particularly careful to describe not only Hobbes's political philosophy; he also provides an introduction to Hobbes's thought regarding religion, science, ethics, and philosophical method. By gaining an overall picture of Hobbes's thought, I came to appreciate Tuck's claim that "Hobbes created English-language philosophy." I recommend this book to anyone approaching Hobbes for the first time.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Adequate but less than lucid
24 Jan 2006
Format:Paperback
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an extremely important English philosopher, best known for his political philosophy, especially as found in the work "Leviathan".
Richard Tuck's overview of Hobbes does an adequate job of summarizing the views of this important philosopher; however, the book at times feels a little bit too detail-oriented, often at the expense of forming a more clear picture of Hobbes's philosophy as a whole. One particularly confusing discussion involves Hobbes's ideas about the difference between a "natural right" and a "natural law".
The three main sections of the book focus on Hobbes's life, Hobbes's work, and later interpretations of Hobbes. Perhaps this last section is the most fascinating; we find, for example, Hobbes political theory in modern times being analyzed within the idiom of "game theory".
Tuck is clearly an expert and knows what he's talking about, but his book might be pitched just a bit over the head of a true beginner to the study of Hobbes or philosophy in general.
All in all this is a decent work - but it occasionally becomes over-academic at the expense of clarity... and in a work of this sort, clarity is a priceless asset.
Richard Tuck's overview of Hobbes does an adequate job of summarizing the views of this important philosopher; however, the book at times feels a little bit too detail-oriented, often at the expense of forming a more clear picture of Hobbes's philosophy as a whole. One particularly confusing discussion involves Hobbes's ideas about the difference between a "natural right" and a "natural law".
The three main sections of the book focus on Hobbes's life, Hobbes's work, and later interpretations of Hobbes. Perhaps this last section is the most fascinating; we find, for example, Hobbes political theory in modern times being analyzed within the idiom of "game theory".
Tuck is clearly an expert and knows what he's talking about, but his book might be pitched just a bit over the head of a true beginner to the study of Hobbes or philosophy in general.
All in all this is a decent work - but it occasionally becomes over-academic at the expense of clarity... and in a work of this sort, clarity is a priceless asset.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
An authoritative introduction to the first great English political philosopher
12 Aug 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The author starts by telling us "Hobbes created English-language philosophy". Really? What of Francis Bacon, to whom Hobbes once acted as amanuensis? Poor Bacon does get a brief, grudging mention later on. The description in the blurb of Hobbes as "the first great English political philosopher" is probably more accurate. Certainly he is important, in a broad Western context. He was central to the transition from medieval to modern thought, and was a strong influence on Rousseau and others. Tuck is an expert guide (despite his inexplicable slighting of Bacon) and his style is very readable. This introduction covers Hobbes's life, works and intellectual legacy. Reliable and informative, it is highly recommended as an introduction to, and summary of, Hobbes's ideas, but to better appreciate the context, you might want to read (dare I say it?) Bacon's Essays first.
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