Introduction

Nature—the art by which God has made and governs the world—is imitated by human art in this, as in many other things: it can make an artificial animal. For since life is only the motion of limbs, beginning in some principal part within, why should we not say that all automata—machines that move themselves by springs and wheels, as a watch does—have an artificial life? What is the heart but a spring; the nerves but so many strings; and the joints but so many wheels, moving the whole body as its maker intended? Art goes further still, imitating that rational and most excellent work of nature, man. For by art is created that great LEVIATHAN called a COMMONWEALTH, or STATE (in Latin CIVITAS), which is only an artificial man, though greater in stature and strength than the natural man for whose protection and defense it was intended. In it sovereignty is an artificial soul, giving life and motion to the whole body; magistrates and other officers of judgment and execution are artificial joints; reward and punishment, which, attached to the seat of sovereignty, move each joint and member to perform its duty, are the nerves, performing the same office in the natural body; the wealth and riches of all its individual members are its strength; Salus Populi (the People's Safety) is its business; counselors, who bring to its attention everything it needs to know, are its memory; equity and laws, its artificial reason and will; concord, health; sedition, sickness; and civil war, death. Finally, the pacts and Covenants by which the parts of this body politic were first made, assembled, and united resemble that Fiat, or “Let Us Make Man,” pronounced by God at the Creation.

To describe the nature of this artificial man, I will consider:

First, its matter and its maker, both of which are man.

Second, how and by what Covenants it is made; what are the rights and just power or authority of a sovereign; and what preserves and dissolves it.

Third, what a Christian Commonwealth is.

Lastly, what the Kingdom of Darkness is.

Concerning the first, a saying much repeated lately holds that wisdom is acquired not by reading books, but by reading men. Accordingly, those who can generally offer no other proof of wisdom take great pleasure in showing what they think they have read in men, through uncharitable judgments of one another behind their backs. But there is another saying, little understood of late, by which they might learn truly to read one another if they would take the trouble: Nosce Teipsum, “Read Yourself.” It was not meant, as it is now used, to excuse barbarous conduct by people in power toward their inferiors or to encourage insolence in people of low standing toward their superiors. It was meant to teach us that, because one man's thoughts and Passions resemble another's, whoever looks into himself and considers what he does when he thinks, forms opinions, reasons, hopes, fears, and so forth, and on what grounds, will thereby read and know the thoughts and Passions of all other men on like occasions. I mean the resemblance of Passions, which are the same in all men—desire, fear, hope, and so forth—not the resemblance of the objects of the Passions, the things desired, feared, or hoped for. Individual constitution and particular upbringing make those objects so variable and so easy to conceal from us that the characters of a man's heart, blurred and confused by dissembling, lying, pretense, and false doctrines, are legible only to him who searches hearts. Though we sometimes discover men's designs through their actions, to do so without comparing those actions with our own and distinguishing every circumstance that might alter the case is to decipher without a key. We shall mostly be deceived, whether through too much trust or too much suspicion, according as the reader himself is a good or an evil man.

However perfectly one man reads another by his actions, the knowledge serves him only among his acquaintances, who are few. Whoever is to govern a whole nation must read in himself not this or that particular man, but mankind. Though this is hard to do—harder than learning any language or science—once I have set down my own reading in an orderly and clear way, the only labor left to another will be to consider whether he too finds the same in himself. For this kind of doctrine admits no other demonstration.

PART I. OF MAN

Nature is the art by which God made and governs the world. Human art imitates nature in many ways, including by making an artificial animal. Life is only the movement of limbs, beginning in some principal part inside the body. So why shouldn't we say that all automata—machines that move themselves by springs and wheels, like a watch—have artificial life? The heart is a spring, the nerves are strings, and the joints are wheels. Together they move the whole body as its maker intended. Human art goes further and imitates nature's most excellent rational work: the human being. Art creates that great Leviathan called a Common-wealth, or state (in Latin, civitas). It is an artificial human being, larger and stronger than a natural one, which it was meant to protect and defend. In it, sovereignty is an artificial soul, because it gives the whole body life and movement. Magistrates and other officers who judge and enforce judgments are artificial joints. Rewards and punishments are the nerves: attached to the seat of sovereignty, they move every joint and member to do its duty, as nerves do in a natural body. The wealth and riches of all its individual members are its strength. Salus Populi (the people's safety) is its business. Counselors who bring it everything it needs to know are its memory. Equity and laws are its artificial reason and will. Agreement is health; rebellion is sickness; civil war is death. Finally, the pacts and Covenants that first made, assembled, and united the parts of this political body resemble God's command at creation, “Let us make man.”

To describe the nature of this artificial human being, I will consider:

First, its material and its maker, both of which are human beings.

Second, how it is made and by what Covenants; what Rights and rightful power or authority belong to a Sovereign; and what preserves and dissolves it.

Third, what a Christian Common-wealth is.

Lastly, what the Kingdom of Darkness is.

On the first subject, there is a saying often repeated lately: wisdom comes not from reading books but from reading people. Accordingly, people who generally have no other proof of their wisdom love to show what they think they have read in others by making unkind judgments behind their backs. But there is another saying, little understood lately, that could teach them to read one another if they took the trouble: Nosce Teipsum, “Read yourself.” It was not meant, as people now use it, to justify powerful people's brutal treatment of those below them or to encourage lower-ranking people to behave insolently toward those above them. It was meant to teach us this: because one person's thoughts and Passions resemble another's, anyone who looks into himself and considers what he does when he thinks, forms opinions, reasons, hopes, fears, and so on, and on what grounds he does it, can thereby understand the thoughts and Passions of other people in similar circumstances. I mean that the Passions themselves are alike in everyone—desire, fear, hope, and the rest. I do not mean that their objects, the things people desire, fear, or hope for, are alike. Individual makeup and particular upbringing vary these so much, and the objects are so easy to hide, that the marks of the human heart, blurred and confused by concealment, lies, pretense, and mistaken teachings, can be read only by the one who searches hearts. People's actions sometimes disclose their plans. But if we try to read those actions without comparing them to our own and without distinguishing every circumstance that could change the case, we are deciphering without a key. We will usually be misled by too much trust or too much suspicion, depending on whether we ourselves are good or bad.

Even if someone reads another's actions perfectly, that knowledge helps only with the few people he knows. Whoever must govern a whole nation has to read in himself not this or that individual but humankind. That is hard to do—harder than learning any language or science. But once I have set out my own reading clearly and in order, another person's only remaining task will be to consider whether he finds the same things in himself. There is no other way to prove this kind of teaching.

PART I. OF MAN