The State of Nature in Hobbes´ Leviathan

The most highly organized social network is called a commonwealth, a web of contracts between members of a community, which according to Hobbes is synonymous to the formation of an entirely new person of which each individual is but a working part (Leviathan 2, 17). Hence the title of Hobbes’ most famous work, Leviathan, which is a sea monster that lives off of the “sea of individuals.” And who is to rule this commonwealth?

In his book, Hobbes lays out a society with no third party power to exert authority. He calls that society the “State of Nature”. Within the State of Nature, if there is a perpetual fear for ones being, he calls that being in a “State of War”. An example Hobbes gives of a society in a State of nature are the Native Americans.

Hobbes’ Leviathan and Locke’s Second Treatise of Government comprise critical works in the lexicon of political science theory. Both works expound on the origins and purpose of civil society and government. Hobbes’ and Locke’s writings center on the definition of the “state of nature” and the best means by which a society develops a systemic format from this beginning. The authors hold opposing views as to how man fits into the state of nature and the means by which a government should be formed and what type of government constitutes the best. This difference arises from different conceptions about human nature and “the state of nature”, a condition in which the human race

In Leviathan there is no society until there is a sovereign or governing force. Hobbes gives three types of sovereign governments, democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy. Democracy is the most instable, most conflict, and instills the most fear. Monarchy is Hobbes choice of government because there is no division, no factions, there can be no civil war between the king and himself, and it makes the passing of power more stable with less conflict. The whole basis of his ideal society is on creating as little fear as possible because fear is instability. There can be no civil disobedience, protest, or dissent because is creates fear. In direct opposition to Locke’s ideal society, Hobbes’s gives sole loyalty to the government. Man cannot give loyalty over the government meaning there should be no more loyalty to a religion or a pope than the ruler of a mans society. This is because religion could cause more instability meaning more fear. The sovereign power has no limits of power because he is not included in the contract with the people; his power is absolute. A one-world government would be ideal to Hobbes because with only one loyalty for all people there should be no conflicts.

Thomas Hobbes was a divisive figure in his day and remains so up to today. Hobbes’s masterpiece, Leviathan, offended his contemporary thinkers with the implications of his view of human nature and his theology. From this pessimistic view of the natural state of man, Hobbes derives a social contract in order to avoid civil war and violence among men. Hobbes views his work as laying out the moral framework for a stable state. In reality, Hobbes was misconstruing a social contract that greatly benefited the state based on a misunderstanding of civil society and the nature and morality of man.

For all that is natural in this world, humans ironically live in an artificial realm. The argument of how we should live, or politics, has been a controversy for as long as one can remember. Like a quilt, all of our political premises are man made ideas of how some think a society would live most comfortably. The doctrine people live by, or try to live by is comprised of the myriad ideas of theorist like Plato, Aristotle, Marx, Locke, Hobbes, and many more. Akin to many idealist, Thomas Hobbes explains a notable political approach in his book Leviathan. Hobbes depicts the idea of living with a sovereign under a covenant; he goes on to explain the details of how things would work best. Thereupon reading Leviathan, one could ask herself whether

As a magnum opus by Hobbes elaborating on the human nature and an ideal social and political structure, Leviathan highlights the potential existence of what was described as “the state men are naturally in.” Under Hobbes’ definition, while men possess similar faculties of mental and physical features, everyone is naturally inclining to flight against one another to gain advantage based upon individual rationale. This conclusion, which seems to be outrageous and dreamy, has its solid root cultivated from Hobbes’ analysis of “nature” and explication of “war”.

In Hobbes' Leviathan, the conclusion on the nature between morality and the state is that the "Leviathan," i.e. the state, is responsible for the creation of morality and that without the state, man is without morality and is, in fact, a savage. Hobbes claims that the state originates morality by way of discussing human nature. He says: "So that in the nature of man, we find three principal causes of quarrel. First, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory...Hereby it is manifest, that during the time men lie without common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war...Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of war, where every manis enemy to every man; the same is consequent to the time, wherein men live without other scrutiny, than what their own strengthm and their own invention shall furnish withal." (Leviathan 592) What Hobbes is saying here, is that man, in a state of nature, is not moral.These three things (competition, diffidence, glory), are all that savage man has without government or "without common power" as Hobbes puts it. Therefore, the state removes the state of savagery from the nature of man and puts in morality.

Thomas Hobbes was a 17th century philosopher, who argued that human beings are fundamentally equal by nature, and we infer that humans live under the rule of absolute sovereign. “From that law of nature by which we are obliged to transfer to another such rights as, being retained, hinder the peace of mankind, there followeth a third, which is this that men perform their covenants made…” (Hobbes 89). Hobbes tries to hold back peace, in order to make it seem like everyone is equal. This can create disorder in society and many other problems. For example, without government or the wealthy class it would be hard for society to do the things it can today.

Thomas Hobbes in his famous reading Leviathan describes a dark state of nature. He claims that all of mankind is greedy, self-interested and only care for things that benefit themselves. In his mind, we do whatever we feel necessary to further our self preservation. Due to this, "all against all" mentality that Hobbes believed we carry, he believed that it was mandatory for us to have a higher authority figure. He argued that this authority figure or 'sovereign' would help control human behaviour and ensure that the fear of punishment for breaking laws would help maintain peace and prevent us from our true nature. Hobbes suggested that since the state of nature is equivalent to the state of fear, there be a social contract put in place. This

Hobbes argues that man by nature is incapable of doing good, and thus a state's role is to govern an unruly community. By utilising Locke's Second Treatise on Civil Government and Hobbes' Leviathan, this essay aims to explore the two theorists' approaches to human nature, and how their understandings help shape their beliefs on the formation and role of the state. In order to understand John Locke's point of view on the concept of human nature and its effects on the formation and role of the state, it is imperative to understand his attitude towards human nature within the state of nature. In his work Second Treatise on Civil Government, Locke describes humans within a state of nature in a state of equality, 'in which no-one has more power and authority than anyone else' (Locke p.3).

To begin, Hobbes defines the state of nature as the natural condition of mankind without a government. In the state of nature, humans are violent and as Hobbes states it is the “war of every man, against every man” (Hobbes 240). In the state

In his work Leviathan, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes discusses the state of nature of the human being and how that affects the society we live in, which demands, in his opinion, the existence of an individual that will focus on the establishment of a sovereign authority. He uses the biblical figure of Leviathan, monstrous and cruel animal, who follows the ideology that the smaller and weaker cannot be swallowed by stronger. This figure represents the state, a giant whose flesh is the same from all who delegated him to take care and defend the society.

1. Art imitates nature of which man is the best work, and State is an “artificial man.” Sovereignty acts as the soul - it provides life to the body or the State. Those who execute the law act as the joints of the body. The rewards and punishments which move members to do their duty to society are the nerves. Counsellors act as the memory while the laws of the state represent the body’s reason and will. Sedition acts as an illness while civil war represents death. Each function of the state represents a part or function of the human body.

In Hobbes book Leviathan, he makes the natural man out to be a self obsessed monster who is only interested in his own self preservation. This would intern leave the state of nature to be consumed with war, “...because the condition of man is conditions of war of everyone against everyone”. With out the constrain of government Hobbes states “So that in the state of nature man will find three principal causes of quarrel: first, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory” (Leviathan, 76). These principles would then leave men in the state of nature, with a life that Hobbes describes as “solitary, poor nasty, brutish, and short” (Leviathan, 76). Over all Hobbes view on the state of nature is a materialistic world where without an “absolute sovereign” the life of man would be nothing more then the “state of war”.