In Hobbes’s Kingdom of Light, Stauffer argues that Hobbes was engaged in a struggle on multiple fronts against forces, both philosophic and religious, that he thought had long distorted philosophy and destroyed the prospects of a lasting peace in politics. By exploring the twists and turns of Hobbes’s arguments, not only in his famous Leviathan but throughout his corpus, Stauffer uncovers the details of Hobbes’s critique of an older outlook, rooted in classical philosophy and Christian theology, and reveals the complexity of Hobbes’s war against the “Kingdom of Darkness.” He also describes the key features of the new outlook—the “Kingdom of Light”—that Hobbes sought to put in its place. Hobbes’s venture helped to prepare the way for the later emergence of modern liberalism and modern secularism. Hobbes’s Kingdom of Light is a wide-ranging and ambitious exploration of Hobbes’s thought.

Editions and Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter One. “Of Darkness from Vain Philosophy”

Chapter Two. Hobbes’s Natural Philosophy

Chapter Three. Religion and Theology I: “Of Religion”

Chapter Four. Religion and Theology II: Hobbes’s Natural Theology

Chapter Five. Religion and Theology III: Hobbes’s Confrontation with the Bible

Chapter Six. Hobbes’s Political Philosophy I: Man and Morality

Appendix. The Engraved Title Page of Leviathan

Bibliography

Index