Leviathan or The Matter, Form and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiastical and Civil
In Thomas Hobbes’s “Leviathan,” he draws out a widespread system of politics and governance based around the idea of a social contract between the public of a state and their sovereign or ruler. Hobbes argues for an absolute monarchy backed by a strongly unified government. Leviathan is seen by historians as the earliest work of social contract theory, a major aspect of the development of political theory, especially in the enlightenment era that would ensue.
The front-piece of the book displayed in the image grandly depicts a sovereign with a sword in one hand and a crosier in the other, a testament to the “absolute” or all-encompassing nature of the sovereigns rule. Additionally, the figure is built up of hundreds of small human figures, none of which have visible facial features, which represent the general population of the ruler’s state. These details reinforce the message behind the social contract which Hobbes discusses throughout Leviathan, specifically that the collective public of the state unconditionally supports their monarch and in return, the monarch rules effectively, promotes state welfare and keeps the state secure and stable.
Finally, Hobbes draws significantly from developments in the Scientific Revolution in articulating his argument. He forms his arguments in the manner of a geometric proof, building on each point using known truths in an effort to reach a final conclusion. Geometric themes are even present in the front-piece, which uses geometrically determined proportions and perspective.