Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan
Above anything else, Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan is a creation story and an investigation of human nature. The story begins in a time of chaos and death and through a journey of human development culminates in the establishment of a sustainable and rational society—the commonwealth—led by a sovereign. At a first casual glance, Hobbes’ reasoning of the transformation from the state of nature to the commonwealth is not airtight. A few possible objections can be quickly spotted: the contradictions of natural law with suicide and the civil law to honor even harmful covenants. Hobbes deals with some of these issues and seems to ignore others, but he does address in detail the most significant objection to his theory:
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He progresses through reason and science, and then opens a discussion of man’s “passions.”
These passions lead to, among other things, motion and “endeavour.” Hobbes reveals the fundamental forces that drive man, and in doing so, paints a picture of the state of nature. “This endeavour, when it is toward something which causes it, is called Appetite or Desire…And when the endeavour is fromward something, it is generally called Aversion.” (Leviathan, vi.2). This basic, binary code of conduct explains man’s lawless behavior in nature. Man desires—and therefore pursues—food, shelter, and pleasures of the senses, and man has an aversion to and avoids pain, cold, and danger. Hobbes refers to these desires and aversions in addition to many others as the “simple passions.” They dictate the chaos of everyday life in nature. They explain why men kill each other over food or shelter, and why men and women are attracted to each other.
The concepts of desire and aversion and the simple passions, however, go well beyond explaining just everyday life. They are the main stepping-stones for Hobbes between his basic observations of man, and his definition of human nature and natural law. Hobbes makes the claim that among man’s desires is power. “I put for a general inclination of
Born during a period of medieval philosophy, Thomas Hobbes developed a new way of thinking. He perfected his moral and political theories in his controversial book Leviathan, written in 1651. In his introduction, Hobbes describes the state of nature as an organism analogous to a large person (p.42). He advises that people should look into themselves to see the nature of humanity. In his quote, “ The passions that incline men to peace, are fear of death; desire of such things as are necessary to commodious living; and a hope by their industry to obtain them,” Hobbes view of the motivations for moral behavior becomes valid because of his use of examples to support his theories, which in turn, apply to Pojman’s five purposes for morality.
Thomas Hobbes opens with the idea that all animals live within two sets of perpetual motion. The first being the inborn nature of animals to breath, the pulse and course of blood, the acquiring of nutrition and the exertion that follows, his vital motions. The second animal motions are voluntary, to speak, move and go. These voluntary motions are fueled by ones thought and imagination and are not always apparent to us. Essentially, Hobbes is saying that our thoughts propel us into motion or “endeavor.” When endeavor draws us toward something it is the cause of “appetite” or “desire”, what it is pushing us from something it is “aversion.” Appetites and aversions are both inborn and learned, but are
If a power is present which is not strong enough for a man’s security, man will call on his strengths to secure himself from other men. It was clear to Hobbes, that men must group themselves together, with a leader capable of ensuring obedience of these natural laws. It is important that the group being governed is a large group because the small groups are not stable. The addition of only a few members with contrasting views to a small group, could destroy the entire community.
In the prompt, Hobbes’ Leviathan is clearly stated as a work of political theory and not of political thought or philosophy. Theory, is “ an idea that is intended to explain facts or events”. It is a thought with purpose; it has a role. The State of Nature is the central concept of the Leviathan — which Hobbes defines as “the natural state of mankind”. However, it would be absurd to think of the State of Nature in the Leviathan as a mere concept devoid of purpose. The reader clearly recognizes, in Hobbes’ description of the State of Nature, England under the Civil War. In what way does Hobbes use the State of Nature as a dystopia in the Leviathan ? The State of Nature though speculative cannot be conceived as detached from Hobbes’ reality. He uses the narrative of the State of Nature as a foil to defend the values, and political system he believes in.
A state of nature is a hypothetical state of being within a society that defines such a way that particular community behaves within itself. English philosopher Thomas Hobbes proclaimed that, “A state of nature is a state of war.” By this, Hobbes means that every human being, given the absence of government or a contract between other members of a society, would act in a war-like state in which each man would be motivated by desires derived solely with the intention of maximizing his own utility.
Thomas Hobbes describes his views on human nature and his ideal government in Leviathan. He believes human nature is antagonistic, and condemns man to a life of violence and misery without strong government. In contrast to animals, who are able to live together in a society without a coercive power, Hobbes believes that men are unable to coexist peacefully without a greater authority because they are confrontational by nature. “In the nature of man”, Hobbes says “there are three principal causes of quarrel: first, competition; secondly, diffidence, thirdly, glory” and then he goes on to list man’s primary aims for each being gain, safety and reputation (Hobbes, Leviathan, 13, 6).
English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes’, leviathan consists of three parts. The second part, titled “Of Commonwealth”, describes a government Hobbes refers to as the “leviathan”; which is simply defined as “something that is very large and powerful”. Biblically, “leviathan” is defined negatively, as a devilish sea monster. On the contrary, Hobbes uses the term to portray his version of the ideal government.
If we were left without resources and forced to resort to cannibalism, for example, the threat we would pose to each other would be far more real. Even if we were to form groups, eventually, we would have to betray each other in order to survive. It seems that then, we really would be in the State of Nature described in ‘Leviathan’. Nevertheless, Hobbes’ argument seems to rely on some sort of extreme catastrophe, so even if his claims on human nature are correct, the leap from society breaking down to humans brutally killing each other in the State of Nature is made too quickly.
Each of the two men have gained land, an “inanimate thing” once lusted after; nevertheless, their quality of life has declined considering they now live in a constant state of fear of their own conservation. Ergo, man creates a social contract with a larger power, or a state, which allows for the emergence of the Leviathan, a powerful state. The Leviathan, is a sovereign power that has gained much of its power by creating numerous amounts of contracts with its subjects. However, its power is quite contested throughout academia, and even within Hobbes’s Leviathan itself. “What extent does the Leviathan have power?” “Is it absolute?” and further on. The biggest question is about consent and the
Leviathan is an organic metaphor in which the leviathan; a biblical sea monster represents the sovereign (the head) and political community (the body.) The Condition of Nature, Hobbes’s thought experiment mirrors an anarchic state before civilization. In this state equality is held in a negative air; it poses a threat of vulnerability. Without authority we are open to attacks. This threat leads to three conflicts: competition, diffidence, and glory. Competition leads to violence, due to the desires of the individual, we may try to have what the other one has. Diffidence leads to distrust and anticipation of preemptive strikes. We believe that the other individual is after what we have. Lastly, glory leads to shattered pride due to undervalue, due to individual’s opinions. Hobbes describes life in this state as a miserable. “In such condition there is no place for industry because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently […] which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” (Hobbes,76). Hobbes state of nature mimics stereotypes of the ignorant rather than Goldman’s state. Hobbes state is depicted as constant warfare and fear while Goldman’s depicts hope and personal growth. Hobbes introduces Laws of Nature which help us get out of this anarchic state in which we seek peace and lay down some
To begin, Hobbes uses his most recognized work called the Leviathan to discuss several issues relating from the natural state of humans to more complex arguments about the equality of human beings. When observing Hobbes it best to start by examining his definition of appetites and aversions. For Hobbes appetites and aversions are outlined to be, “This endeavor, when it is
In order to analyze Hobbes’s work of moral and political philosophy, one must first understand his view of human nature. Hobbes’s was greatly influenced by the scientific revolution of the early 17th century, and by the civil unrest and civil war in England while he wrote. Hobbes views the nature of man as being governed by the same laws of nature described by Galileo and refined by Newton .He writes in Leviathan “And as we see in the water, though the wind cease, the waves give not over rowling (rolling) for a long time after; so also it happeneth in that mation, which is made in the internall parts of a man” . From this, he concludes that man is in a constant state of motion. Being at rest is not the natural state of man, but rather a rarity.
We will give Hobbes’ view of human nature as he describes it in Chapter 13 of Leviathan. We will then give an argument for placing a clarifying layer above the Hobbesian view in order to
According to the view Thomas Hobbes presents within the selected passaged in the Leviathan, we live in a narcissistic society where man’s condition is primarily driven by ego and where the achievement of personal goals is deemed paramount. Within the State of Nature that is, outside of civil society we have a right to all things ‘even to one another’s body’, and there would be no agreed authority to ensure the moral grounds of our decisions. Therefore since there are no restrictions and no shared authority; man is naturally un-guarded and prone to conflict and each individual is deemed a potential threat to our resources.
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”.