4. Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679, best known work is Leviathan (1651) which established social contract theory. His liberal thinking included: The right of the individual; the natural equality of all men; the artificial character of the political order; the view that all legitimate political power must be representative; and a liberal interpretation of law.

Hobbes met not only Descartes but also Galileo. He thought space and time to be imaginary. He saw humans as being matter and motion, obeying the same physical laws as other matter and motion. He thought one could square the circle.
 

Lecture 4 of 10 from David Gordon’s The History of Politcal Philosophy: From Plato to Rothbard.