Background
De Cive is the first of a trilogy of works written by Hobbes dealing with human knowledge, the other two works in the trilogy being De Corpore (‘On the body’), published in 1655 and De Homine ('On man'), published in 1658. Because of the political turmoil of the time, namely the unrest leading up to the Civil War of 1642, Hobbes hastily "ripened and plucked" the work which would systematically come last: De Cive. This work comprises three parts: Libertas (liberty), Imperium (dominion), and Religio (religion). In the first part, he describes man’s natural condition, dealing with the natural laws; in the second, the necessity of establishing a stable government is indicated. Finally, in the third part, he writes something about religion.
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