The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 01 (of 11) — Reading Notes

Geometric Proofs as Philosophical Argument

The excerpts from the body of the work are dominated by geometric diagrams and proofs, such as the attempt to "find a strait line equal to the crooked line of the first semiparabolaster." Hobbes uses a method of concourse of motions—one uniform, one accelerated—to generate curves. For instance, he writes that the line ABC is "generated by the concourse of two motions, one uniform from A to E, the other in the same time accelerated from rest in A to D." This is not merely a mathematical exercise; it is central to Hobbes's materialist philosophy, where all phenomena reduce to motion and matter. Readers unfamiliar with 17th-century geometry may find these sections challenging, but they reveal Hobbes's core method: to demonstrate physical truths through geometric necessity.

The Role of Impetus and Time

Hobbes repeatedly ties his geometric constructions to physical concepts like impetus and time. He states that "the lengths transmitted are in proportion triplicate to that of the times of their transmission" and that the line AE "may serve to represent the time." This linkage between geometry and physics is characteristic of Hobbes's approach in Concerning Body. The excerpts show him defining impetus as proportional to the increase of time, and using ordinate lines to represent both time and the augmentation of impetus. For a first reading, note how Hobbes moves fluidly between geometric figures and physical interpretations, a technique that underpins his entire philosophical system.

Editorial and Textual Features

The Project Gutenberg edition includes several editorial interventions. The transcriber's note explains that "marginal paragraph notes were repeated" across pages and have been removed, and that "minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected." Corrections are indicated with underlined highlights or hyperlinks. This means the digital text is not a pure facsimile but a cleaned version. Additionally, the volume contains a single footnote following the translator's note. Readers should be aware that the text they encounter has been silently emended in places, and the original print errors are only accessible via the popup or hyperlink system.

Navigating the Mathematical Density

The excerpts include dense passages such as: "draw L N parallel to D C, cutting E C in N, and the parabolical line in M; and produce it on the other side to A D in I." This level of detail is typical. For a first reading, it is not necessary to follow every geometric step. Instead, focus on Hobbes's overall strategy: he uses geometry to model physical processes, and his proofs are meant to demonstrate necessary connections. The diagrams referenced (e.g., Figure 18.2) are not included in the text excerpts, so readers must infer the constructions from the verbal descriptions. Patience with the technical language will reward those interested in Hobbes's philosophical method.

This first volume of Hobbes's collected works presents his natural philosophy in its most formal, geometric guise. The excerpts from Concerning Body show a thinker committed to reducing all explanation to motion and figure, demonstrated through Euclidean-style proofs. Readers approaching Hobbes primarily through his political works will find here the metaphysical foundations of his system. The editorial apparatus by Molesworth and the Project Gutenberg team makes this a reliable text for study, though the geometric sections demand careful attention.

Some nights I still think about Hobbes’s patient diagrams—how motion becomes proof, one step at a time. It felt like watching someone build a bridge in the dark. Later I found a gentler echo of that same quiet persistence in On the Nature of Things — A Reader’s Guide. Strange, how two such different books can leave the same faint ache, a longing for order that almost comforts.