ABSTRACT
When we consider the ever expanding relevance of certain questions as the nature of state sovereignty, the role of power in the social organism, the relation of coercion to liberty, and the possibilities for developing a science of political behavior, we are invariably drawn to consider the views of Thomas Hobbes. The author notes the manifold source of Hobbes's outlook: the Baconian concept of knowledge can manipulate nature to human goals; the Cartesian belief that a sound scientific method is the key to the secrets of man and nature; the then widespread belief in the values of the geometric approach for solving problems from epistemology to ethics. The idea, taken as a self-evident proposition by some, that materialism implies a humane libertarianism is nowhere better refuted than in Hobbes. Peters has a keener appreciation for Hobbes's England in general, than for the specific relationships Hobbes lived through.
