霍布斯(Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679)的《利維坦》(Leviathan,1651 )為西方進入標示現代(modem )政治哲學的一部劃時代名 著，其第13章、第14章與第15章，不僅提供截然不同於古代哲學 對於平等與正義的見解，也先鋒式地將平等正義概念與國家主權正當 性論述連結一起。本文試圖提出一項新的解讀霍布斯平等正義觀的方 式：霍布斯在上述篇章提供的「人類平等」觀，與其以「正義作為履 行約定」為中心的自然法論述，二者之間有緊密關係：認可前者是後 者成立的決定性因素。此邏輯關係再由以下三者說明之：認可平等是 實現正義的動機，認可平等以實現正義會帶來利益，平等實踐是自然 法實現的必要條件。討論集中於澄清如何理解，由霍布斯所提出的， 人的理性要求正義行動以及其與國家主權形成的關連。

In the chapters 13, 14 and 15 of Leviathan (1651), Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) delivers a provoking account of equality and a limited view of justice. This article intends to introduce a new perspective explaining how there is a close, but traditionally underestimated, connection between Hobbes’s particular views of “human equality” and “justice as performing made covenants”. That is, for Hobbes, the acknowledgment of equality plays a decisive role for just actions—performing made covenants. The decisive role is further specified as follows: acknowledging equality motivates justice; acknowledging equality would bring out interest; equality is embedded in Hobbes’s Natural Laws. Thus the central issue here is how to understand Hobbes’s basic position that rationality requires justice.