Rating: 
Summary: The most in depth political examination since The Republic
Review: Leviathan brings up several questions to the minds of those who read it. Hobbes arguements about human thought, euthanasia, true freedom, God, the Devil, government, etc. are strong and thought provoking. The reader will discover that Hobbes book influenced the writers of the constitution. Anyone seriously interested in politics and theology should read this book.
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Summary: definitive edition of this work
Review: Leviathan is a the most exiting work of political philosophy I have ever read. You may disagree with it, but you should read it anyway and recognize its significance in the history of ideas.This edition is a good one. Its pages are thin enough for ink to bleed through, but the text itself is definitive and its printing is based on editions from Hobbes' lifetime. Contrary to a prior reader review, this edition DOES have parts three and four, although rarely do those sections get read anymore (the interesting things are in one and two).
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Summary: your excellence
Review: leviathan is a true gem. while siding with hume, i'll claim hobbes is more interesting and concise, and less repetitive. the conclusion is almost irrelevant. hasnt anyone noticed that all philosophy is ultimately debated and corrected.
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Summary: A Machiavel in reverse
Review: Leviathan is one of the first books written after philosophy begun to detach itself from the Catholic inspired medieval thinking, also marking the beginning of the influence philosophy received from the scientific thinking, a point not suficiently y explored by Thomas Hobbes but which one we can get with the benefit of hindsight. Leviathan is an old Fenician word for a mythical crocodile, quoted in some verses of the biblical Book of Job, an taken by Thomas Hobbes as meaning the representation of a powerfull governor totally devoted to do his most to the benefit of the Commonwealth. In Hobbes mind the most efficient form of government was monarchy, but he takes a lot of time to analyse also Democracy and Aristocracy. One has to keep in mind that the time the book was written was one of internal revolt, a civil intestine strife in England, and the objective of Hobbes was to lay the foundations for human actions conducive to an equilibrium within the state, ending war. His book can be also be taken as one where many important aspects of Right and Laws are aprehended, from the perspective of a deeply religious anglican man, that tried his best to separate, in his words, the Kingdoms of men (where civil laws are imperative) from the Kingdom of God (Naturall Right). He does extensive analysis of God's Laws and its importance to the balance in the relationship between men. The edition is a very good one, with a good introduction and is a copy of the text as written in the 17th century, exhibiting an archaic English sometimes difficult to understand. Also, some quotations in Greek and in Latin are not translated, despite all the effort the author makes to turn them inteligible to the reader. The book could be understood as antipodal to Machiavellian's The Prince, because power is not taken here as something good in itself, but only as a means of carrying the security and hapinnes the kingdom subjects deserve.
Rating:
Summary: A Machiavel in reverse
Review: Leviathan is one of the first books written after philosophy begun to detach itself from the Catholic inspired medieval thinking, also marking the beginning of the influence philosophy received from the scientific thinking, a point not suficiently y explored by Thomas Hobbes but which one we can get with the benefit of hindsight. Leviathan is an old Fenician word for a mythical crocodile, quoted in some verses of the biblical Book of Job, an taken by Thomas Hobbes as meaning the representation of a powerfull governor totally devoted to do his most to the benefit of the Commonwealth. In Hobbes mind the most efficient form of government was monarchy, but he takes a lot of time to analyse also Democracy and Aristocracy. One has to keep in mind that the time the book was written was one of internal revolt, a civil intestine strife in England, and the objective of Hobbes was to lay the foundations for human actions conducive to an equilibrium within the state, ending war. His book can be also be taken as one where many important aspects of Right and Laws are aprehended, from the perspective of a deeply religious anglican man, that tried his best to separate, in his words, the Kingdoms of men (where civil laws are imperative) from the Kingdom of God (Naturall Right). He does extensive analysis of God's Laws and its importance to the balance in the relationship between men. The edition is a very good one, with a good introduction and is a copy of the text as written in the 17th century, exhibiting an archaic English sometimes difficult to understand. Also, some quotations in Greek and in Latin are not translated, despite all the effort the author makes to turn them inteligible to the reader. The book could be understood as antipodal to Machiavellian's The Prince, because power is not taken here as something good in itself, but only as a means of carrying the security and hapinnes the kingdom subjects deserve.
Rating: 
Summary: PROMETHEUS edition is only first half.
Review: Like most books, Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan is divided into chapters. But it is also divided into four "Parts." The Prometheus edition (not to be confused with the Penguin edition) includes only the first two parts, though they sell it as if it were the entire book instead of only the first half. Any other edition would be better than this. If you want a good edition, you could go with the Hackett edition, edited by Edwin Curley, modernized and with the important variants (translated into English, of course) from the Latin edition of the Leviathan published during Hobbes' lifetime. A good edition that is not modernized is the Cambridge edition edited by Richard Tuck. (Having an editor does NOT necessarily mean that the text has been reduced; they often serve to rid the text of previous publishing typographical errors.) Which of these you should get will depend upon two things: Whether you are interested in the variants from the Latin edition, and whether you are comfortable reading something written in the 1600's. For most people, probably the modernized Hackett edition would be best, as many people have difficulty with 17th century English. But if you want Hobbes' exact words, I recommend the Cambridge edition. Whenever buying classic texts, which edition you buy can be extremely important, as the dreadful Prometheus edition demonstrates.
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Summary: For sado-masochists only
Review: My God! This book is impossible to read; Hobbes' style of writing is ridiculously long winded and very difficult to understand. While I understand and appreciate that this book is one of the fundamental books of modern society, I can't like it because it is so hard to read. Locke I understand, Machiavelli I understand, but Hobbes is tough. I'm no genius, but I'm no idiot either, and I don't think reading one book should consume months of my life. Unless you have to read this, do yourself a favor and avoid it. For sado-masochists only. Seriously.
Rating: 
Summary: Nasty, brutish, and LONG...
Review: OK, first off, skip the ENTIRE BEGINNING SECTION of this book - it is perfectly pointless today. In it, Hobbes is basically trying to do away with the concept of an immortal soul, thereby creating an atheistic society that cares nothing for religious matters. Hobbes is NOT known for his Philosophy of Mind. What everyone remembers about Leviathan is Hobbes' terse, cynical, and on-the-money observation that life is "nasty, brutish, and short." Of course, what he means by this is life in the State of Nature. In order to try to make life a little better, man comes together to form societies. So far, so good. What most people take exception to is the kind of Social Contract that Hobbes endorses. Hobbes says that a society should come together to form a Social Contract in which everyone is OBEY THE SOVEREIGN UNCONDITIONALLY NO MATTER WHAT. Here's the kicker, the sovereign or king himself exists OUTSIDE OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT AND IS NOT BOUND BY IT. In other words, the sovereign can do whatever he likes and the people must obey his commands no matter how cruel or ridiculous. Now, Hobbes was really trying to be more reasonable than he sounds. He lived at a time when England had spent years torn apart by constant war. He was also a self-professed coward: "Fear and I were born twins." Basically, what he wanted was an end to war at all costs. For him, that meant obeying a STRONG RULER - in his case, Oliver Cromwell. The second section is addressed to the people trying to make them understand why this is in their best interests. The last section is addressed to the sovereign himself. Yes, he says, you can be a tyrant and do anything you want, BUT that will only cause you more trouble than it's worth. I have some advice for you to follow. Hobbes then goes on to RECOMMEND ways in which the sovereign could be a good ruler. In the end, Hobbes thought he was being an eminently practical man. To him, the "natural rights theorists" would just be talking nonsense.
Rating:
Summary: Nasty, brutish, and LONG...
Review: OK, first off, skip the ENTIRE BEGINNING SECTION of this book - it is perfectly pointless today. In it, Hobbes is basically trying to do away with the concept of an immortal soul, thereby creating an atheistic society that cares nothing for religious matters. Hobbes is NOT known for his Philosophy of Mind. What everyone remembers about Leviathan is Hobbes' terse, cynical, and on-the-money observation that life is "nasty, brutish, and short." Of course, what he means by this is life in the State of Nature. In order to try to make life a little better, man comes together to form societies. So far, so good. What most people take exception to is the kind of Social Contract that Hobbes endorses. Hobbes says that a society should come together to form a Social Contract in which everyone is OBEY THE SOVEREIGN UNCONDITIONALLY NO MATTER WHAT. Here's the kicker, the sovereign or king himself exists OUTSIDE OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT AND IS NOT BOUND BY IT. In other words, the sovereign can do whatever he likes and the people must obey his commands no matter how cruel or ridiculous. Now, Hobbes was really trying to be more reasonable than he sounds. He lived at a time when England had spent years torn apart by constant war. He was also a self-professed coward: "Fear and I were born twins." Basically, what he wanted was an end to war at all costs. For him, that meant obeying a STRONG RULER - in his case, Oliver Cromwell. The second section is addressed to the people trying to make them understand why this is in their best interests. The last section is addressed to the sovereign himself. Yes, he says, you can be a tyrant and do anything you want, BUT that will only cause you more trouble than it's worth. I have some advice for you to follow. Hobbes then goes on to RECOMMEND ways in which the sovereign could be a good ruler. In the end, Hobbes thought he was being an eminently practical man. To him, the "natural rights theorists" would just be talking nonsense.
Rating:
Summary: PERFECT
Review: Ok..So you want to live without any god?Read this Book Plus Schopenhauer Plus Nietzsche.Your life will be much better !.This book is absolute Classic.Easy Read(not dificult as Kant which is good).10\10
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