Leviathan · Chapter
Of Speech explained
Hobbes explores the origin, use, and abuse of speech, emphasizing its role in enabling reason, science, and the registration of thought through names and definitions.
What happens
Hobbes explores the origin, use, and abuse of speech, emphasizing its role in enabling reason, science, and the registration of thought through names and definitions. He distinguishes between proper and universal names, explains how truth and falsehood arise from the correct ordering of names in affirmations, and warns against the inconstant signification of words influenced by passion.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This is the story's dramatic climax because it reveals the sovereign's right to punish is not a gift from subj…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Human Nature and Passions
Hobbes discusses how words acquire inconstant signification due to differing passions and dispositions, affecting reasoning and communication.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“For words are wise men’s counters, they do but reckon by them; but they are the money of fools, that value them by the authority of an Aristotle, a Cicero, or a Thomas, or any other doctor whatsoever, if but a man.”
Words are tools for calculation in the wise, but fools treat them as currency, trusting the authority of famous thinkers rather than using reason.
Hobbes criticizes the uncritical acceptance of authority in matters of truth.
“Seeing then that truth consisteth in the right ordering of names in our affirmations, a man that seeketh precise truth had need to remember what every name he uses stands for, and to place it accordingly, or else he will find himself entangled in words, as a bird in lime twigs, the more he struggles the more belimed.”
Truth depends on correctly defining and arranging words; without this, a person becomes hopelessly confused, like a bird caught in sticky lime.
Hobbes emphasizes the importance of clear definitions for attaining scientific knowledge.
