'There are no substantive rights for subjects in Hobbes's political theory, only bare freedoms without correlated duties to protect them'. Curran challenges this orthodoxy of Hobbes scholarship, and argues that Hobbes's theory is not a theory of natural rights but rather, a modern, secular theory of rights, with relevance to modern rights theory.

'In this ambitious and lucid book, Eleanor Curran sets out to challenge some of the main orthodoxies of Hobbesian scholarship...Curran's book performs a great service and deserves to be read by all serious Hobbes scholars. It represents a significant departure from existing treatments, and is richly thought-provoking both in its advocacy of a 'strong' theory of rights, and in its criticism of the existing scholarship. This engaging and lively book may thus itself hope to form a starting point for argument, controversy and debate.' British Journal for the History of Philosophy

'...detailed [and] sophisticated...' - Hobbes Studies