Thomas Hobbes

So Spoke Thomas Hobbes

"       But the most noble and profitable invention of all other, was that of SPEECH, consisting of Names or Appellations, and their Connexion ; whereby men register their Thoughts ; recall them when they are past ; and also declare them one to another for mutuall utility and conversation ; without which, there had been amongst men, neither Common-wealth, nor Society, nor Contract, nor Peace, no more than amongst Lyons, Bears, and Wolves."

      "The manner how Speech serveth to the remembrance of the consequence of causes and effects, consisteth in the imposing of Names, and the Connexion of them.
      "Of Names, some are Proper, and singular to one onley thing ; as Peter, John, This Man, this Tree ; and some are Common to many things ; as Man, Horse, Tree ; every of which though but one Name, is nevertheless the name of divers particular things ; in respect of all which together, it is called an Universall ; there being nothing in the world Universall but Names ; for the things named, are every one of them Individuall and Singular."

      "Seeing . . . that truth consists in the right ordering of names in our affirmations, a man that seeketh precise truth, had need to remember what every name he uses stands for, and to place it accordingly... And therefore in Geometry... men begin at settling the significations of their words ; which settling of significations, they call Definitions ; and place them in the beginning of their reckoning.
      "By this it appears how necessary it is for any man that aspires to true Knowledge, to examine the Definitions of former Authors ; and either to correct them, where they are negligently set down ; or to make them himselfe. For the errours of Definitions multiply themselves ..."

      "... insignificant sounds [are] of two sorts. One, when they are new, and yet their meaning not explained by Definition ..."
      "Another, when men make a name of two Names, whose significations are contradictory and inconsistent ..." (all quotations from "On Speech", Chapter IV, Leviathan by T. Hobbes ; as given by Hayden and Alworth, New York, 1965).

An Errour by T. Hobbes Corrected

      "... this name, an incorporeal body, or (which is all one) [?] an incorporeal substance ..." (ibidem)

Correction that is not "all one". 'Body' usually stands for a portion of matter, any portion of matter as can be apprehended by the several senses.

That can be properly (truely) called 'corporeal substance'.

'Substance' can be incorporeal ; by this being meant the individual (human) observer, the individual soul — or the individual spirit. (Synonyms, 'psyche', 'dusza', etc., etc., in the sundry languages. The significances are often, not always, consistent between the languages, this depending on which statements by what authors are being considered).

This incorporeal substance is real — which means exactly no less or not more than, I (this writer) am real, here and now typing these words. This has been fundamental with R. Des Cartes — who, however, had not avoided some errours of his own. This incorporeal substance is not 'added', or 'superadded', to the (corporeal) body, but rather precedes the existence of the same as perceived at the moment.

These definitions have been part borrowed by me from other writers. I do affirm that they are true, for these according to my own understanding can be demonstrated to constitute "the right ordering of names" (T. Hobbes, as above). The reader can be advised to "examine the Definitions of former Authors ; and either to correct them, where they are negligently set down ; or to make them himselfe" (T. Hobbes) — or, one might also consider, to accept such ones as would fit. — (WPT).

From A Journey to England A.D. 1663 by Samuel Sorbière

" The first thing I did when I reached London was to go and visit Mr. Hobbes. . . .   I had not seen him for fourteen years ; I found him little altered. He was sitting in his room in the same posture as he was accustomed to, of afternoons, when he lived in Paris ; for he spent that time of the day in studying, after he had been walking all the morning. He acted thus for the benefit of his health, which he rightly deemed the first thing to be considered. For the same cause, and though he is now seventy-eight, he has modified his rules in only one item, adding each week a game at tennis, which he continues until he has to stop out of sheer exhaustion. He is little changed in his face, and not at all in what concerns the vigour of his mind, the strength of his memory, and the mirthfulness of his temper, which he has preserved in their entirety."¹

    ¹ " Je trouvay [ . . . (etc)] "

ENGLISH ESSAYS FROM A FRENCH PEN
by J. J. Jusserand
New York and London : Putnam, Unwin, 1895, p. 174.

From SOCINIANISM IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND, 1951 by John McLachlan

'The Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum was prohibited from sale in Holland . . . (1674) along with Hobbes's Leviathan and Spinoza's Tractatus'

Oxford 1951, p. 39, note 2.

Selected bibliographic

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De homine. English] Title Man and citizen : De homine and De cive / edited with an introduction by Bernard Gert. Publisher Indianapolis : Hackett Pub. Co., c1991. Description 388 p. ; 22 cm. ISBN 0872201120 (alk. paper) :$27.50 0872201112 (pbk.: alk. paper) : Language English Note "Thomas Hobbes's De homine, translated by Charles T. Wood, T.S.K. Scott-Craig, and Bernard Gert, and the translation of De cive attributed to Thomas Hobbes, also known as Philosophical rudiments concerning government and society." Reprint, with corrections. Originally published: Garden City, N.Y. : Anchor Books, 1972

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De cive. German] Title Hobbes über die Freiheit : Widmungsschreiben, Vorwort an die Leser und Kapitel I-III aus "De Cive" (lateinisch-deutsch) / eingeleitet und mit Scholien herausgegeben von Georg Geismann und Karlfriedrich Herb. Publisher Würzburg : K[önigshausen] + N[eumann], 1988. Description 228 p. : port. ; 21 cm. ISBN 3884793373 Language German Note Includes bibliographical references. Latin and German on opposite pages.

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Title De cive, ou, Les fondements de la politique / Thomas Hobbes ; traduction de Samuel Sobriere ; presentation par Raymond Polin. Publisher Paris : Sirey, 1981. Description 393 p. ; 22 cm. Series Publications de la Sorbonne. Serie documents ;no. 32. Note At head of title: philosophie politique. ISBN 224800981X Language French

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Title Man and citizen: Thomas Hobbes's De homine, translated by Charles T. Wood, T.S.K. Scott-Craig, and Bernard Gert, and De cive, translated by Thomas Hobbes, also known as Philosophical rudiments concerning government and society. Edited with an introd. by Bernard Gert. Publisher Gloucester, Mass., P. Smith, c1972, t.p. 1978. Description 386p. Language English

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Title De cive; Publisher New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts [1949] Description xxxi, 211 p. 20 cm. Language English

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De cive. Dutch] Title De eerste beginselen van een burger-staat / aangewesen door Thomas Hobbes van Malmesbury. Publisher t'Amsterdam : [s.n.], anno 1675. Description [16], 536 p. : port. ; 17 cm. (8vo) Note T.p. is engraved. Signatures: *⁸ A-2K⁸ L⁴.

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Title Elementorum philosophiae. Sectio tertia : de cive. Publisher [Amstelodami : Joannem Blaeu, 1670?] Description [16], 174 p. ; 21 cm. (4to) Language Latin Note Dedication signed: Thomas Hobbes Originally published: London : [s.n.], 1642. Cuts: initials, tailpiece.

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De cive] Title Elementa philosophica de cive, auctore Thom. Hobbes. Publisher Amsterodami : Apud Danielem Elzevirium, 1669. Description [34], 403 p. 14 cm. Note Engraved t.-p. Language Latin

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De cive] Title Elementa philosophica de cive, auctore Thom. Hobbes. Publisher Amsterodami : apud Ludovicum & Danielem Elzevirios, 1657.

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De cive. English] Title Philosophicall rudiments concerning government and society. Or, a dissertation concerning man in his severall habitudes and respects, as the member of a society, first secular, and then sacred. Containing the elements of civill politie in the agreement which it hath both with naturall and divine lawes. In which is demonstrated, both what the origine of justice is, and wherein the essence of Christian religion doth consist. Together with the nature, limits, and qualifications both of regiment and subjection. By Tho : Hobbes. Publisher London, Printed by J. G. for : Royston, 1651. Description 22 p. leaves, 363 p. incl. plates. 15 cm. Language English Note Engraved half-title, with portrait of Hobbes.

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De cive. French] Title Elemens philosophiques du citoyen. Traicté politique, où les fondemens de la societé civile sont descouverts, par Thomas Hobbes, et traduicts en françois par un de ses amis. Publisher Amsterdam : J. Blaeu, 1649. Description 28 p.l., 246, 144 p. illus. 15 1/2 cm. Language French Note Added t.-p. engr. Dedicatory epistle by the translator, Samuel Sorbière. First edition of the 1649 French translation; cf. H. MacDonald and M. Hargreaves, Thomas Hobbes, no. 32. This copy without the unpaged 8 leaf "Advertissement du traducteur" sometimes found at the end of the volume.

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De cive. French] Title Elemens philosophiques du citoyen. Traicté politique, où les fondemens de la societé civile sont découverts, par Thomas Hobbes, et traduicts en françois par un de ses amis. Publisher A Amsterdam : de l'imprimerie de Jean Blaeu, 1649. Description 24 p. l., 448, [15] p. 16 cm. Language French Note Second edition in French of the author's Elementa philosophica de cive. "Epistre dedicatoire" signed: Sorbiere. Signatures: *-***⁸, A-Z⁸, Aa-Ff⁸. Pages 125, 137, 364 incorrectly numbered 123, 117, 344, respectively. Added illustrated title-page, engraved. Marginal notes. Cf. Macdonald, Hugh. Thomas Hobbes; a bibliography. London, 1952, p. 20-21, no. 33.

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De cive] Title Elementa philosophica de cive, auctore Thom. Hobbes ... Publisher Amsterodami : apud L. Elzevirium, 1647.

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Title Elementorum philosophiae sectio tertia De ciue. Publisher Parisis : [s.n.], 1642. Description [12], 275, [1] p. ; 22 cm. (4to) Note Dedication signed: T.H. Signatures: a⁴ e² A-2L⁴ 2M². Engraved historiated title page. Pages 80 and 124 misnumbered 78 and 126. Language Latin

* * *

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De corpore. English] Title Elements of philosophy, the first section, concerning body. Written in Latine by Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury. And now translated into English. To which are added six lessons to the professors of mathematicks of the institution of Sr. Henry Savile, in the University of Oxford. Publisher London : Printed by R & W Leybourn, for Andrew Crocke, at the Green Dragon in Pauls Church-yard, 1656. Description [12], 394, [5], 64 p. fold. plates. 22 cm. Note First English ed.

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De corpore. English] Title Elements of philosophy [microform] : the first section, concerning body / written in Latine by Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury ; and now translated into English ; to which are added Six lessons to the professors of mathematicks of the Institution of Sr. nry Savile, in the University of Oxford. Publisher London : Printed by R. & W. Leybourn for Andrew Crooke ..., 1656. Description [14], 394 p., 13 leaves of plates (l folded) Series Early English books, 1641-1700 ;634:8. Note A translation, and to some extent adaptation, of "Elementorum philosophiae. Sectio prima. De corpore ..." (see "The translator to the reader", prelim. p. [3]). "Six lessons ..." is a reply to John Wallis's and Seth Ward's attacks on De corpore ... Reproduction of original in University of Illinois Library. Language English

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De corpore] Title Elementorum philosophiae sectio prima de corpore. Authore Thoma Hobbes. Publisher Londini : Excusum sumptibus A. Crook, 1655. Description [12], 304 p. fold. plates. 18 cm. Note wing : H2226. Language Latin

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De cive] Title Elementa philosophica de cive, auctore Thom. Hobbes ... Publisher Amsterodami : apud L. Elzevirium, 1647. Description [20] p.L., 408 p. port. 13 cm. Note Engraved t.p. Signatures: *⁸, **¹�, A-R¹� (G₃ incorrectly signed G₅)

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Uniform Title [ De cive] Title Elementorum philosophiae sectio tertia De ciue. Publisher Parisis : [s.n.], 1642. Description [12], 275, [1] p. ; 22 cm. (4to) Note Dedication signed: T.H. Signatures: a⁴ e² A-2L⁴ 2M². Engraved historiated title page. Pages 80 and 124 misnumbered 78 and 126.

Author Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Title A briefe of the art of rhetorique. : Containing in substance all that Aristotle hath written in his three bookes of that subject, except onely what is not applicable to the English tongue. Publisher London : Printed by Tho. Cotes, for Andrew Crook ..., [1635] Description 202 p. Note Written by Thomas Hobbes. Cf. BLC; Macdonald & Hargreave. Imprint date cited from: Macdonald & Hargreave; STC; Stationers' Co. Register (Feb. 1637). Verso of t.p. blank.

Author Thucydides. Uniform Title [ History of the Peloponnesian War. English] Title Eight bookes of the Peloponnesian Warre / written by Thvcydides, the sonne of Olorvs ; interpreted with faith and diligence immediately out of the Greeke by Thomas Hobbes. Publisher London : imprinted for Richard Mynne, 1634. Description [30], 536, [10] p. : fold. map ; 35 cm. Language English

Author Thucydides. Uniform Title [ History of the Peloponnesian War. English.] Title Eight bookes of the Peloponnesian warre, written by Thvcydides the sonne of Olorvs. Interpreted with faith and diligence immediately out of the Greeke, by Thomas Hobbes ... Publisher London, Imprinted for Hen. Seile, 1629. Description 17 p. l., 536 (i.e. 535) p., 5 l. 2 fold. maps, 3 plans (2 fold.) 34 cm. Note Engr. t.-p., with ornamental border.