Writings on Common Law and Hereditary Right

by Hobbes, Thomas; Cromartie, Alan; Skinner, Quentin

• ISBN13: 9780198237020
• ISBN10: 0198237022
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-05-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This volume in the Clarendon Edition of the Works of Thomas Hobbes contains A dialogue between a philosopher and a student, of the common laws of England, edited by Alan Cromartie, supplemented by the important fragment "Questions relative to Hereditary Right," discovered and edited by QuentinSkinner. As a critique of common law by a great philosopher, the Dialogue should be essential reading for anybody interested in English political thought or legal theory. Cromartie has established when and why the work was written and has supplied extensive annotation (along with a substantialintroduction) to make the work accessible to the non-specialist reader. The additional piece sees Hobbes mounting a robust defense of hereditary right, in the course of which he also makes some important general observations about the concept of a right. It is also of special interest as itconstitutes Hobbes's last word on politics.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations	viii
List of Illustrations	x
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN A PHILOSOPHER AND A STUDENT, OF THE COMMON LAWS OF ENGLAND
edited by Alan Cromartie
General Introduction	xiv
Textual Introduction	lxvi
Text	1	(146)
Bibliography	147	(8)
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO HEREDITARY RIGHT
edited by Quentin Skinner
Textual Introduction	155	(4)
Historical Introduction	159	(18)
Text	177	(2)
Bibliography	179	(2)
Index	181