Iván Szelényi delivers this lecture from Yale's Foundations of Modern Social Theory (SOCY 151), tracing Thomas Hobbes's political thought back to the instability of the British monarchy during his lifetime, 1588 to 1679. The lecture moves chronologically through chapters on Hobbes's entry into royalist politics, the structure of Leviathan, his account of human nature, the state of nature, and the social contract, before turning to the power of the sovereign. Szelényi explains why Hobbes insisted on a strong sovereign to guarantee security, while also granting subjects the right to shift allegiance if a ruler fails to protect them, a position that made him controversial enough to be exiled. The lecture closes by weighing Hobbes's shortcomings against his legacy, including his recent revival among economists as an early rational choice theorist. Chapter markers divide the 43 minute recording into seven clearly labeled segments.