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( Thomas Hobbes)
Thomas Hobbes (born 5 April 1588&_160;– died 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, whose famous 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation for most of Western political philosophy from the perspective of social contract theory. Hobbes is remembered today for his work on political philosophy, although he contributed to a diverse array of fields, including history, geometry, physics of gases, theology, ethics, general philosophy, and political science. Nonetheless Hobbes's account of human nature as self-interested cooperation has proved to be an enduring theory in the field of philosophical anthropology. Thomas Hobbes was born in Wiltshire, England on 5 April 1588 (some sources say Malmesbury[1]). Born prematurely on April 5, 1588, when his mother heard of the coming invasion of the Spanish Armada, Thomas Hobbes later reported that "my mother gave birth to twins myself and fear."[1] His childhood is almost a complete blank, and his mother's name is unknown[2]. His father, also Thomas, the vicar of Charlton and Westport, abandoned his three children to the care of an older brother (Thomas junior's uncle), Francis, when forced to flee to London after being involved in a fight with a clergyman outside his own church. Hobbes was educated at Westport church from the age of four, passed to the Malmesbury school and then to a private school kept by a young man named Robert Latimer, a graduate of Oxford University. Hobbes was a good pupil, and around 1603 he went up to Magdalen Hall, which is most closely related to Hertford College, Oxford [3] [4] [5] [6]. The principal was a puritan called John Wilkinson, and he had some influence on Hobbes. At university, Hobbes appears to have followed his own curriculum; he was "little attracted by the scholastic learning". He did not complete his B.A. degree until 1608, but he was recommended by Sir James Hussey, his master at Magdalen, as tutor to William, the son of William Cavendish, Baron of Hardwick (and later Earl of Devonshire), and began a life-long connection with that family. [7]
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