Philosophy allows humans to open their minds and think deeper into the world. The mind is vast and immeasurable, and the study of philosophy allows us to use it to its full potential by thinking philosophically. Many great philosophers have come up with different revolutionary ideas that has shaped individuals as well as societies. Their ideas have given impact to perspective socially, politically and economically. Some of the most noted philosophers are Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes and Immanuel Kant. These philosophers have impacted my perspective and they continue to be relevant in current day society. Perhaps you could call Thomas Hobbes the pessimist of all the philosophers. His writing, The Leviathan, presents a rather bleak …show more content…
Perhaps we would like to think that men would be fair and just in accordance to what they see as right virtue. Thomas Hobbes totally disagrees with this idea saying that men are selfish nature and their natural states is war. Furthermore, Thomas Hobbes said, " And therefore if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies; and in their way to their endeavor to destroy or subdue one another" (pg 276). It's almost as if he sees humans as animals who cannot be tamed. Hobbes has not done much to impact my perspective, he just further proved to me in his philosophy what I already asserted myself. A lot of his views on society are still used today and some even in the Constitution. For example, the idea that all men are born equal comes from John Locke. However, Thomas Hobbes comes up with the idea of natural liberties and that idea that the people have the right to overthrow a government that no longer supports them. No matter how much society tries to come to the conclusion that we are all good in nature, our actions prove us otherwise and Thomas Hobbes shows how our nature is actually evil in his …show more content…
If an object or thing does not think, it does not have a mind and therefore it does not exist. Descartes' mind body split theory led him to believe that the information we receive through our senses might not be accurate. An encounter he had led him to attack the idea that our senses contain accurate information and he began to question whether he existed. In Descartes' dream argument, he argues that our dreams can be so vivid and so real. Because our dreams can feel so real, this does not allow us to know if we are awake or in a dream state. Moreover, If our senses cannot tell the difference between a dream and reality how can we trust them to tell us if we are really in a waking
Although Descartes argument seems plausible decades ago, now there are ways to weaken is argument. In the science of psychology which focuses on the brain one can find that there are ways of knowing one is dreaming or sleep. Descartes even contradicts himself when he asserts “that even if all of our sensory experience is but a dream, we can still conclude that we have some knowledge of the nature of reality”. I believe that Descartes knows that he is not dreaming in a constant state of dream but that there is a sense of reality that one experiences. What one experiences are senses such as smell and touch that one cannot perform in a dream world. Being able to touch and have the sensation of touching an item such as a table in a dream does not happen. The sensation of pain is also an indicator of a reality that does not exist in the reaffirms that one is not in reality.
In Hobbes….he reveals how firmly he disagrees with traditional natural law theorists, Hobbes sates that, “I put for a general inclination of all mankind a perpetual and restless desire of power after power that ceases only in death.” In other words, Hobbes reveals that he believes that men cannot be satisfied by the “cultivation of virtue” as a political end; man will fight for more power until the fight itself kills them. According to source Hobbes states that, “All men have in common is the continual fear and danger of violent death” (Hobbes, 1956: Ch.13, 107-108). Hobbes is basically stating that because death is less likely to occur when there is peace, men will therefore desire a peaceful society only because it is in their best interest. Source , Hobbes states that, “The passions that incline men to peace are fear of death, desire of such tings are necessary to commodious living, and a hope by their industry to obtain them.” These are prime examples of where the tradition view towards natural law contrasts with Hobbes theory. Natural law tradition generally believes it is human nature to have peace, and avoid evil, where Hobbes on the other hands believes man is only interested in having peace because it is for his own benefit. In current terms, Hobbes has a more realist view on natural law tradition.
Philosophy is a very important part of people’s lives. Philosophy is quite basically asking inquiries about existence, reality and nature of knowledge. To better understand philosophy we must look throughout history. Looking back through history helps better show what the philosophers thought during the time period in which they lived. The relativity of the theories, to the time period, is a very important factor in how efficient these theories they were. The first philosopher’s ideas to people today would be considered either very basic, or insane. Yet, in the time period they lived in, they were considered to be geniuses. Also, looking back through time and studying philosophers and what they believed can help create a better idea for
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are two of most important philosophers whose writing have had a major impact on Farmers of the U.s Constitution. Even though both Hobbes and Locked were well known for their social contracts and natural law theories, they both have very different approaches to the where they stand and their conclusion in several laws of nature. Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher from Malmesbury while John Locke was from Wrighton, Somerset.
With these natural causes of quarrel, Hobbes concludes that the natural condition of humans is a state of perpetual war of all against all, where no morality exists, and everyone lives in constant fear (p.45). He believes that humans have three motivations for ending this state of war: the fear of death, the desire to have an adequate living and the hope to attain this through one’s labor (p.47). These beliefs become valid because of the use of his examples. One example suggests that people are barbaric to each other. With the absence of international law, strong countries prey on the weakness of weak countries. I believe that his views of moral behavior are very true. Like Hobbes said, people are out for their well-being. If I were to do a favor for someone, I may think I am helping someone out, which I am, but I am probably doing the favor because it is going to make me feel better. It is going to benefit my well being. Hobbes is a famous philosopher whose views were very controversial. But the fact that he lived in a time when the monarchy was the “divine right of kings” (p.42), makes his views valid today. With a different government and new laws, his views appear to be true.
Thomas Hobbes is a philosopher. Hobbes was born on April 5, 1588. Hobbes died on December 4, 1679.Many people only know him by his political thoughts. Thomas Hobbes was influenced by Aristotle,Plato, Niccolo Machiavelli, and many more philosophers. I'll be writing about hobbes political thoughts. Like what hobbes thought of people,political thoughts of the government, and his book Leviathan.
Descartes’ Dreaming Argument comes from his thinking that there is no way of knowing if you are sleeping or if you are awake. To know something is to have no doubt of a fact, it must be a justified true belief. To be justified it must hold logical reason, you cannot state something is true without evidence. In order for it to be true it is not enough to justify it, but it must be justified with true facts. Finally, you must believe it, in order to know something it must be true in your mind. As a result Descartes doubts his consciousness as he cannot truly know that he is awake. This spurs Descartes to question if any perceived knowledge of reality is really true. Descartes calls his senses into questions as he notes, “it is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once” and therefore concludes that as a result it is prudent, never to trust his sense. In
Hobbes believed that people should not possess any rights, because if we did, chaos would be created. Chaos would come afloat because humans are greedy, selfish and self-interested, making us unable to think of anyone else but ourselves. Our responsibilities would be to simply follow the “ king’s” rules, or in a society like ours, simply follow the laws. Ultimately in Hobbes's ideal society people would have no freedom and one responsibility, with the exception of the king who is in charge of keeping order; thus making his/her rights and responsibilities flexible. He thought this was because, during the English revolution, the chaos was created because people opposed the leader, and instead disagreed with him and his ruling
In ‘Leviathan’ (1996), Hobbes describes the State of Nature as a place where society has broken down and life would be “nasty, brutish, and short” because of human nature. According to him, we are fundamentally equal, and have a tendency to self-preservation. In this essay, I will discuss whether his view is based on a false assumption of human nature. I will first show why the existence of society poses a problem to the claim about equality, before moving on to discuss obstacles to his second claim. Then, I will explain why, even if Hobbes’ assumptions are correct, it does not follow that the State of Nature would be so bad. Indeed, society breaking down is not a sufficient condition for Hobbes’ State of Nature to become real.
How do we know we are not dreaming some particular experience we are having, or we are not dreaming all our experience of this world? When we dream we imagine things happening often with the same sense of reality as we do when we are awake. In Descartes dream argument, he states there are no reliable signs distinguishing sleeping from waking. In his dream argument, he is not saying we are merely dreaming all of what we experience, nor, is he saying we can distinguish dreaming from being awake. I think his point is we cannot be for sure what we experience as being real in this world is actually real.
Thus, if this life is actually a dream, then the things that we have experienced are fake and the work of the mind. This dream arguments plays a role in Descartes’ overall epistemological project undertaken in the Meditations because it identifies that the mind is a powerful substance that has the ability to work on its own, with or without a body. Descartes’ dream argument identifies that humans are known for their minds, and without the mind, they are
we don’t he explains because if everything in our dreams feel so real and everything right now feels right. How do we know if we’re not dreaming right now?
Hobbes believed that in nature people had to do whatever was necessary to survive and that even if living together, people were still likely to fight. His view of people was dark and most likely due to the horrors of a series of political schemes and armed conflicts he had seen during the English Civil War. He believed that a contract was necessary. Hobbes felt that people were not capable of living in a democratic society. Instead, a single dominant ruler was needed, and if everyone did their part, then the community would function smoothly. Hobbes’ theory is unlike Locke and Rousseau’s. He believed that once the people gave power to the government, the people gave up the right to that power. It would essentially be the cost of the safety the people were seeking.
His answer allows us to reach the core of his political theory found in chapter 13 of Leviathan. The chapter opens with his bold proclamation; “Nature hath made men so equal” (Hobbes Ch. 13, 76). Hobbes is expressing a simple statement. We are all beings of desire and we all seek ways, through power, to satisfy those desires. In Hobbes eyes, we are all somewhat equal, yet some are stronger or smarter. However, all humans have weaknesses and therefore all humans are equally vulnerable. Hobbes illustrates this point as follows:
For men, the common good is not the private and they can only be happy if they are better off in comparison to others. “Men are continually in competition for honor and dignity, which these creatures are not; and consequently amongst men there ariseth on that ground, envy and hatred, and finally war” (Hobbes, Leviathan, 17, 7). Due to these instinctive desires and behavioral patterns, he believes that the natural condition of man is troublesome and can only lead to a state of chaos and conflict. This state is undesirable and should be avoided. So while men continue to live without a common power to keep them in awe, they will be in a continuous state of war, which is every man against every man. Here, all men are each other’s enemies and the ideas of right and wrong along with just and unjust do