# Of the Nutrition and Procreation of a Commonwealth explained — Leviathan

> Chapter companion for Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes.

## What happens

Hobbes discusses the sustenance and expansion of a commonwealth, comparing it to a natural body. He covers the distribution of land and property as acts of the sovereign, the role of money as the 'blood' of the commonwealth, and the establishment of colonies as its 'procreation.' He argues that all property rights derive from the sovereign and that subjects cannot exclude the sovereign from their lands.

## Themes in this chapter

### Sovereignty and Absolute Power

Hobbes argues that the sovereign has absolute authority over the distribution of property and the regulation of trade, and that subjects cannot exclude the sovereign from their lands.

### Justice and Law

Justice is defined as distributing to every man his own, and property rights are established only through civil law enacted by the sovereign.

### State of Nature and Social Contract

Contrasts the state of nature (perpetual war, no property) with the commonwealth, where property is introduced through the sovereign's authority.

## Character check-ins

### William the Conqueror

Cited as an example of a conqueror who distributed lands to subjects, establishing that property is held by the victor's distribution.

### Eleazar

Mentioned as the priest who, along with Joshua, divided the Land of Promise among the tribes of Israel.

### Joshua

Mentioned as the general who, with Eleazar, divided the land among the Israelites.

### Cicero

Quoted to support the idea that all property depends on civil law.

## Key lines

> For where there is no commonwealth there is, as hath been already shown, a perpetual war of every man against his neighbour; and therefore everything is his that getteth it, and keepeth it by force; which is neither 'propriety' nor 'community'; but 'uncertainty.'

Without a commonwealth, there is constant conflict, and possession is determined solely by force, not by any stable concept of property.

_Highlights the necessity of a sovereign for establishing property rights._

> And though a people coming into possession of a land by war, do not always exterminate the ancient inhabitants, as did the Jews, but leave to many, or most, or all of them their estates; yet it is manifest they hold them afterwards, as of the victors' distribution; as the people of England held all theirs of William the Conqueror.

Even when conquerors allow the original inhabitants to keep their lands, those lands are still held by permission of the conqueror, as happened in England after William the Conqueror.

_Illustrates the sovereign's ultimate authority over all property within the commonwealth._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leviathan_se/chapters/xxiv-of-the-nutrition-and-procreation-of-a-commonwealth
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leviathan_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leviathan_se/chapters