Thomas Hobbes was born in Wiltshire, England, in 1588. After studying at Oxford University, he began a long tutorial association with the Cavendishes, the family of the earls of Devonshire. Hobbes made several trips to Europe with members of the family. In 1640 civil war erupted in England, and Hobbes soon fled to France, where he lived as an exile from 1641 to 1651. In 1646 he became a tutor to the Prince of Wales, who had also fled to Paris. While in Paris, Hobbes wrote Leviathan, his masterpiece of political philosophy. This philosophy is based on the idea of a social contract, whose purpose was the security of each individual and absolute authority of sovereigns. Hobbes returned to England in 1652 and settled in London. He continued to publish philosophical works until the 1670s. In 1675 he returned to the countryside to live with the Cavendish family until his death in 1679.
