The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the topic of prophecy in Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan with an eye toward its relationship to other fundamental aspects of his teaching. In particular, it attempts to situate Hobbes's account of prophecy within the larger, scientific and political, framework of his thought. Such an effort, it is argued, is indispensable for a proper understanding of Leviathan and, therewith, Hobbes's mature philosophy. In order to study prophecy in Leviathan, it is necessary to approach it from a variety of angles. First, in Chapter 2, prophecy is investigated as a form of knowledge. The dissertation begins therefore by placing prophecy within the context of Hobbes's theory of knowledge. Second, in Chapter 3, the meaning of the distinction that Hobbes makes between the natural and prophetic halves of his book is considered by attending to Chapter xxxi, the final chapter of the first half of Leviathan, which constitutes Hobbes's account of natural religion. On the basis of an understanding of religion from the perspective of nature, the dissertation moves on to consider the prophetical half of the work. In particular, it begins, in Chapter 4, with a thorough account of the transition to the second half in Chapter xxxii, followed, in Chapter 5, by an account of Hobbes's view of scripture in Chapter xxxiii. Coming to terms with Hobbes's account of scripture is necessary, it is argued, because the Bible is, according to Hobbes, the only access human beings have to prophecy since the Pentecost and until the Second Coming. The status of prophecy, in other words, depends crucially on the status of scripture. Finally, prophecy is considered from a political point of view by investigating Hobbes's notion of the "sovereign prophet." In this way, Hobbes's view of prophecy is accounted for in such a way that his epistemology, ontology, and politics are all brought into contact with his religious teaching in order to provide the greatest possible insight into the place of prophecy in Hobbes's teaching.
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