Hobbes is labeled an individualist because his political theory begins with the individual in the state of nature. He posits that the social contract is formed by rational individuals seeking self-preservation. By making the state a product of individual consent and focusing on the security of the individual, Hobbes shifts the focus from traditional collective or divine authority to the rational, self-interested individual as the primary unit of political analysis.

Hobbes posited that human nature is driven by a restless desire for power and self-preservation. In his view, humans are inherently competitive, diffident, and glory-seeking, leading to a 'war of all against all' in the absence of a common power. This pessimistic view of human nature serves as the primary justification for his argument that an absolute sovereign is necessary to ensure peace and security.

In Hobbes's 'Leviathan', individuals in the state of nature possess a 'right of nature'—the liberty to use their own power for self-preservation. However, because this state is a 'war of all against all,' individuals agree to surrender most of their rights to a sovereign in exchange for security. While they relinquish the right to govern themselves, the fundamental right to self-preservation remains, as it is the very reason for entering the contract.

Hobbes describes the State of Nature as a condition of perpetual war and anarchy where there is no common power to keep men in awe. Because there is no central authority, it is inherently a state of extreme uncertainty and insecurity, leading to a life that is 'nasty, brutish, and short'.

Thomas Hobbes defined felicity in his work 'Leviathan' as the continual success in obtaining those things which a person desires from time to time. For Hobbes, human life is a restless pursuit of power and satisfaction, and felicity is not a static state of contentment but a dynamic, ongoing process of achieving successive goals.

For Thomas Hobbes, the first and fundamental law of nature is that every person ought to endeavor peace, as far as they have hope of obtaining it. This law is derived from the human desire for self-preservation, which is threatened by the 'war of all against all' that characterizes the state of nature. Peace is the rational path to survival.

Thomas Hobbes, in his seminal work 'Leviathan', argued that to avoid the chaos of the state of nature, individuals must surrender their rights to an absolute sovereign. This sovereign, or Leviathan, holds undivided and unlimited power to ensure peace, security, and the maintenance of social order within the state.

Thomas Hobbes derived the title of his seminal work, 'Leviathan', from the Book of Job in the Bible. In the biblical text, the Leviathan is a powerful, fearsome sea creature representing uncontrollable force. Hobbes used this metaphor to describe the state—a massive, artificial entity created by the social contract to maintain order, prevent the 'war of all against all', and exercise absolute sovereignty over its subjects to ensure peace and security.

In Hobbes' Leviathan, the social contract is an artificial construct created by individuals to escape the state of nature. While the sovereign holds absolute power to maintain order, Hobbes argues that the sovereign cannot command an individual to kill themselves, as the fundamental purpose of the contract is self-preservation. Thus, the sovereign's authority is both artificial and constrained by the right to life.

Thomas Hobbes authored 'Leviathan', published in 1651. This work is a cornerstone of political science, introducing the concept of the social contract and arguing for the necessity of an absolute sovereign to prevent the 'state of nature,' which he famously described as solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. It remains a foundational text for understanding state authority and political legitimacy.