Reading Hobbes before Leviathan: The case of Philip Scot
The purpose of this paper is to provide new information about Philip Scot’s 1650 Treatise of the schism of England, in which Hobbes is discussed in surprising detail. Who was the author and why did he wish so urgently to engage Hobbes? By learning the identity of “Philip Scot” and examining the Treatise in light of it, we gain new insight into reactions to Hobbes’s political views prior to Leviathan.