In this analysis Geoffrey Vaughan revisits "Behemoth" to reveal a pedagogic purpose to Hobbes's political philosophy. He demonstrates Hobbes's firm commitment to government and to sovereignty and his attempts to create a system of political education to underpin his commitment to sovereignty.

Did Hobbes's political philosophy have practical intentions? There exists no "Hobbist" school of thought; no political order was inspired by Hobbesian precepts. Yet in this analysis Geoffrey Vaughan revisits "Behemoth" to reveal a pedagogic purpose to Hobbes's political philosophy. He demonstrates Hobbes's firm commitment to government and to sovereignty and his attempts to create a system of political education to underpin his commitment to sovereignty. Chapters explore Hobbes's political education in detail and analyze the means through which Hobbes intended his lessons on the need for stability through the preservation and continuation of the state to be taught: through the use of powerful historical imagery. The work's epilogue considers the resurgence of political education in contemporary liberal theory, and discovers that contemporary political education has far more in common with Hobbes's system than it does with early liberalism.

Practical problems, but no solutions?
politics, stability and education
the lessons of political education
learning through history and through Behemoth
the structure and lessons of Behemoth
epilogue - the return of Hobbesian political education.