What publication of Leviathan by Hobbes do you recommend, /lit/?
Oxford World's Classics (edited by J. C. A. Gaskin)
Hackett Classics (Edwin Curley)
or Penguin Classics (C. MacPherson)
>>7811501
Oxford is good and unexpensive. Hackett is a little bit more expensive but is also more scholarly. Don't know about the Penguin, but wouldn't trust it when you can access the other too. I have the Oxford one, I like it, although if I could I'd buy the Hackett edition.
>>7811569
cheers anon
the Hackett one seems to be definitive in content with the Latin additions - I think it's completely modernized in language with extensive citations/glossary etc.
Oxford apparently is too, but I heard a reviewer saying it kept anachronisms like "thou" and so on, if I were going to choose the cheaper one with the bonus of original language, I'd rather go all the way with it rather than some inbetween
sorry if I'm rambling a bit, it's pretty late here
>>7811611
so oxford is the way to go?
>>7811611
There is like a single modernized one and it isn't those. I read the Hackett one with Latin variants and it was great.
I have two pieces of advice for you. One is to start with Chapter 13. Everything before that is mostly just creating definitions of his terms and it's a real slog. Chapter 13 puts you right at the beginning of his actual theory, starting with the natural conditions of man, what his natural laws are, and how government can be constructed from this and why. I received this advice from two Hobbesean academics and I'm so thankful I started there when I read Leviathan for the first time.
Secondly I recommend a good secondary material that will help you place Hobbes in the time he lived in, the struggles he had (being exciled), and the world he is coming out from (french sceptics), etc etc. Pic related is the book I read and it was extremily helpful, particularly the first chapters on the history of his world, covering King James, King Charles, and the philosophers both immediately before the 17th century and the current ones in his day. I would probably say to read something like this first or at least finish the chapters on Hobbes, the first 1/4th of the book.
I haven't used the Oxford edition, but I generally trust them as a publishing company.
I personally don't like the Hackett edition of Leviathan- the English has been modernized and I feel like it sometimes obscures the meaning of Hobbes' language.
Personally, I really like the Penguin edition. The original summaries found in the margins are all intact, and the introduction is excellent. The language is Hobbes' own, and the print is easy to read.
>>7811501
Do you need to write a paper on this? If the answer is no, stop worrying about editions. Get whichever has the best combination of looking nice in your shelve and having a good price.
>>7812008
>>7812049
Thank you a bunch for the detailed advice guys. I'll see if I can nab that book or something similar, it's pretty pricy on bookdepository.
>>7812068
Hopefully it'll be something I can revisit to satisfaction, which will cost less than needing to go out and look for something more comprehensive.
