The State as an Artificial Person by Hobbes

The British Civil War (1642-1651) as well as its
former conflicts, were the background not only of Hobbes´s
political trilogy The Elements of Law (1650), De Cive
(1642) and Leviathan, (1651) but also of his work
Behemoth (1668) specially dedicated to these happenings
from a historical rather than a philosophical point of view.
Expressing his feeling in a shocking way, from the point of
view of a disappointed citizen, the author stresses that if
someone could have a sight of England between the years
1640 and 1660, he could not have found another period in
history where violence and brutality where worse than that.
In his own evaluation, the historical scenario could not
have been worse than the one he testifies. As an attempt
to restore the former State´s order, broke up by the public
disorders just before the British Civil War, the author turns
his mind to the study of the causes of conflicts and wars
between men and the necessary ways to avoid them.
Under the pression of the historical circumstances he
leaves behind his surveys in the field of natural philosophy
that in his own evaluation brings nothing else than a
private pleasure of mind and any kind of improvement
towards humankind"s welfare.