Life

Thomas Hobbes, still widely regarded as the greatest of English philosophers, was born on April 5, 1588, in Malmesbury, England, the son of a clergyman who later disappeared into London and left his sons to be raised by their uncle. Thomas died on December 3, 1679, at Hardwick Hall and was buried at Ault Hucknall, having lived a long and eventful life. After study at Magdalen Hall in Oxford, Hobbes was awarded the degree of BA in 1608 and was appointed tutor to William (1591–1628), the son of William Lord Cavendish (d. 1626); he lived much of the rest of his life as a member of the Cavendish household. This position gave him an opportunity, otherwise unlikely because of his relatively humble beginnings, for travel and to meet many of the leading intellectuals of the age, including Marin Mersenne, Pierre Gassendi, and Galileo Galilei. In England he was loaned by...