Writings on Common Law and Hereditary Right

265 Pages·2005·2.34 MB·English

by  Thomas Hobbes

THE CLARENDON EDITION OF
THE WORKS OF THOMAS HOBBES
VOLUME XI
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN
A PHILOSOPHER
AND A STUDENT, OF THE
COMMON LAWS OF ENGLAND
QUESTIONS RELATIVE
TO HEREDITARY RIGHT
CLARENDON HOBBES EDITORIAL BOARD
Noel Malcolm Simon Schaffer
Quentin Skinner Keith Thomas
Bibliographicaladviser
David McKitterick
SCHEME OF VOLUMES
1: Elements of Law
2, 3: De cive
4, 5: Leviathan
6, 7: Correspondence
8: Autobiographical and occasional writings
9: Writings on rhetoric and literature
10: Behemoth
11: Writings on common law and hereditary right
12: Writings on religion, heresy, and church history
13: Writings on liberty and necessity
14, 15: Anti-White (with ‘Objections’ to Descartes)
16, 17: De corpore (with related manuscripts)
18: Later writings on physics
19: Writings on optics (including De homine)
20, 21, 22: Writings on mathematics
23: Translation of Thucydides
24: Translation of Homer
25: Cavendish-related writings
26: Index
THOMAS HOBBES
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN
A PHILOSOPHER AND
A STUDENT, OF THE
COMMON LAWS OF
ENGLAND
EDITED BY
ALAN CROMARTIE
QUESTIONS RELATIVE
TO HEREDITARY RIGHT
EDITED BY
QUENTIN SKINNER
C L A R E N D O N P R E S S O X F O R D
.
3
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am most grateful for the help received from the staff of the British
Library, Cambridge University Library, the Bodleian Library, the
Huntington Library and the London Library. The late Duke of
Devonshire and the Trustees of the Chatsworth Settlement kindly
allowedmeaccesstothematerialsintheirpossession.Illustrationsin
this volume are reproduced by permission of the British Library.
I have also benefited from the excellent technical advice of the
General Editors, especially Noel Malcolm, and the good nature and
efficiency of Peter Momtchiloff, Sally Lane, Rebecca Bryant, and
JacquelineBaker.RalphHoulbrookeandDavidSedleygaveauthori-
tative answers to specialized questions.
Alan Cromartie
IamgratefultothelateT.S.Wragg,whoasLibrarianofChatsworth
first showed me the Hereditary Right manuscript (in 1964) and
photographed it for me. I am likewise grateful to Peter Day, the
presentKeeperofCollectionsatChatsworth,forgenerousassistance
onmymorerecentvisits.IoweaparticulardebttoNoelMalcolmfor
indispensable technical help, and to Alan Cromartie, Mark Goldie,
KinchHoekstra,SusanJames,JohnMorrill,EricNelson,andDavid
SacksformanyhelpfulcommentsonmyIntroduction.Myprincipal
thanks are due to the late Duke of Devonshire and the Trustees of
the Chatsworth Settlement for permission to examine and publish
themanuscript. WarmthanksarealsoduetoPeterMomtchiloff and
his team at the Oxford University Press, all of whom have shown
exceptional patience and helpfulness.
Quentin Skinner
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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
Bibliography 147
QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO HEREDITARY RIGHT
edited by Quentin Skinner
Textual Introduction 155
Historical Introduction 159
Text 177
Bibliography 179
Index 181
vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Beh. Behemoth, the History of the Causes of the Civil-
warsofEngland,ed.W.Crooke(London,1682)
Brief Lives ‘Brief Lives’, chiefly of Contemporaries, set down
by John Aubrey, between the years 1669 & 1696,
ed. Andrew Clark, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1898)
Cropsey A Dialogue between a Philosopher and a Student,
of the Common Laws of England, ed. J. Cropsey
(Chicago, 1971)
De C. De Cive: the Latin Version, ed. H. Warrender
(Oxford, 1983)
De H. Elementorum Philosophiae sectio secunda de
Homine (London, 1658)
El. The Elements of Law Natural and Politic, ed.
F. To¨nnies (London, 1889)
ER The English Reports, ed. The Earl of Halsbury,
178 vols. (London, 1900–32)
EW TheEnglishWorksofThomasHobbesofMalmes-
bury, ed. W. Molesworth, 11 vols (London,
1839–45)
H Hobbes
Hist. Narr. An Historical Narration concerning Heresie, and
thePunishmentthereof,ed.W.Crooke(London,
1682)
HW The Clarendon Edition of the Works of Thomas
Hobbes (Oxford, 1983–)
Inst. Coke, Sir Edward, The [first/second/third/
fourth] part of the Institutes of the Laws of Eng-
land, 4 vols. (London, 1628–44)
Lat. Lev. Hobbes, Thomas, Leviathan, sive de Materia,
Forma, et Potestate Civitatis Ecclesiasticae &
Civilis in Thomae Hobbes Malmesburiensis
Opera Philosophica, quae Latine scripsit, omnia,
2 vols. (Amsterdam, 1668)
viii
list of abbreviations
Lev. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, or the Matter,
Forme,&PowerofaCommon-wealthEcclesiasti-
call and Civill (London, 1651)
Moral works ThomasHobbes,TheMoralandPoliticalWorks
of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury (London,
1750)
OL Thomae Hobbes Malmesburiensis, Opera
Philosophica quae Latine Scripsit Omnia, ed.
W. Molesworth, 5 vols. (London, 1839–45)
P/phrase Paraphrase
Quot. Quotation
SR The Statutes of the Realm, 9 vols. (London,
1810–22)
Vita ThomaeHobbesAngliMalmesburiensisPhilosophi
Vita, ed. R. Blackburne (London, 1681)
ix