The volume assembles philosophical discourses that first analyze human faculties, passions, and motivation in mechanistic terms to ground political principles; then investigates the nature of the political body, law, and sovereign authority; and finally treats liberty and necessity, weighing human freedom against causal determinism. Complementary essays and responses to contemporary critics address heresy, punishment, loyalty, and literary controversy, applying the same materialist and rationalist methods. Together the pieces present a systematic argument linking human psychology and natural law to the structure and legitimacy of civil power.