Abstract

This work is both a challenging interpretation of Hobbes and an original contribution to modern political theory. Its startling central thesis: according to Hobbes, the institution of civil society creates no new kinds of obligation; the role of the sovereign is "not to make valid a covenant otherwise invalid, but to prevent what is already a valid convenant from becoming invalidated". The defense of this view requires a sharper distinction between grounds of obligation and the conditions which validate an obligation or excuse one from it than Warrender is able to maintain on the basis of Hobbes' text, but important and original insights into the relation of rights and duties emerge from the attempt.--R. F. T.