HOBBES, Thomas.

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Hobbs's Tripos, in Three Discourses: First collected edition, somewhat confusingly called "The Third Edition" on the title, comprising the two texts which form The Elements of Law, together with a third text.The Elements of Law was originally published in 1650 in two parts, Humane Nature, and De Corpore Politico, both with subsequent separate editions. It had circulated in manuscript in 1640. "Starting with an account of human psychology and a powerful analysis of the origins (and the necessity) of the state, it mounted a strong defence of royal authority in such matters as the imposition of taxation" (ODNB). In so doing Hobbes foreshadowed many of the ideas which he would put forward in Leviathan in 1651, namely, the indivisibility of sovereignty.The third part, "Of Libertie and Necessitie", dates from after Hobbes's return to England in 1651, when he "became embroiled in a heated debate with John Bramhall, bishop of Derry, Ulster, on the subject of free will. In 1645, in Paris, Hobbes had discussed the problem of free will with the bishop, and they both wrote their views on the matter soon afterward. A young disciple of Hobbes published his contribution in 1654, without Hobbes's consent" (The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, IV, p. 32). Though included with the Elements of Law here, it has no broader connection to the other two parts.

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