Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan
This document is one of those that I gave you in class.
Under what context (historical) does Hobbes write this document? How does Hobbes view man? What is he justifying? What is his view of a "social contract"? Why would he have these views?
Due: MIDNIGHT, Monday, Oct. 24
Under what context (historical) does Hobbes write this document? How does Hobbes view man? What is he justifying? What is his view of a "social contract"? Why would he have these views?
Due: MIDNIGHT, Monday, Oct. 24
posted by RJS at
7:23 AM
6 Comments:
Thomas Hobbes wrote this document during the English Civil War, while Hobbes was exiled in Paris. Hobbes saw men as basically mechanical in their desires, looking only for either possessions or respect, never thinking on any higher level than wants and needs. Hobbes' views justify absolute rule, such as that of Oliver Cromwell, though the document is written before his rule. This is fairly rare in political philosophy for a person with no real power to believe that rulers need as much power as can be given them, making Hobbes' views represent those of the absolute right wing, wanting order at the expense of equality and freedom. Hobbes would naturally want order, as he was expelled from his country because of the failure of his government to maintain order. He believes that all people must figuratively oblige to a social contract with a ruler, to give him absolute power over the people, giving up their freedom for security from constant fear of other individuals.
By
Unknown, at Tuesday, October 24, 2006 6:51:00 PM
Leviathan was writen in the context of the aftermath of the English Civil War, from which Hobbes' views on man were developed in the midst of chaos and exile. Hobbes views man as a very basic creature who can only be depended on for his self-satisfaction, greed and fear, which he believes is indescriminantly apparent in every individual, resulting in the deep mistrust between the individuals that results in conflict, or vice versa. He justifies tapping into man's fears of death and pain to control him and protect him from himself and others. The source of the pain (punishment) would come from a law. A law, as Hobbes says, coming from an authority the man recognizes and agrees to, leads to his adherence to the law and fear of the consequences of his misdeeds. It is here that the idea of the social contract comes in: if all mankind agreed on a central figure to rule in an authoritative manner, a figure who could not be debated, then all would adhere to the central laws and therefore be reassured that they faced security if not freedom. Resulting from his experiences in the English civil War, Hobbes would naturally condemn the state of anarchy and war he had witnessed and advocate its opposite.
By
Victoria, at Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7:46:00 PM
Hobbes writes the Leviathan in response to the English Civil war during the 1600s. Hobbes talks about how all men are equal, though they may not be equally strong in body or clever in mind that it balances out in the end. He says that men hold their own opinions and intelligence higher than most other men with the few exceptions of men they know to be smarter by fame or by meeting them. Hobbes also says that if two men were to want the same thing, they would hold contempt for each other if both, at the same time, cold not have it. (<--- men are selfish).
(Something really cool he said= 'Quarrel originates from 3 things; competition, the need to defend, and glory.')
Hobbes views man is selfish and holds contempt. (It seems)He feels ultimately that every man is alive for that man's self, only for his self, and will compete with all other men necessary to hold his status. He justifies that man can be happy if he is in complete control of all of his surroundings, and that if there were to be one control, that man can find some organization.
(Should know what social contract is... sorry)
By
TeganLove, at Tuesday, October 24, 2006 8:35:00 PM
What happened to Thomas Hobbes? The only time I have every heard such gloomy views on human nature expressed was in The Screwtape Letters, when C. S. Lewis was speaking through the demon Screwtape. Indeed, many of the writings on competition sound very similar. Says Screwtape "What one gains another loses. Even an inanimate object is what it is by excluding all other ojects from the space it occupies; if it expands, it does so by thrusting other objects aside or by aborbing them. . . the Enemy's (e. g. God) philosophy is nothing more nor less than one continued attempt to evade this very obvious truth. . . the good of one self is to be the good of another. This impossibility he calls love."
Suffice to say I have more faith in man than does Hobbes. He view man as pathetic, squabbling, warring beasts in constant search for more property, or at the very least maintaining what property they do have. The only way to quell this war for Hobbes is through a stringent set of laws defining right and wrong. By this I must assume he means more than the laws of nature as they appear in every person's conscience- he must also be referring to laws instituted by a government, as he makes a reference to their enforcement by a state police. These laws must be created and enforced a by common power- a monarch, or something like him.
Hobbes apparently wrote this piece fresh out of the chaos of the English Civil War. Perhaps he hoped to pacify whatever ruler would gain power in England. Or perhaps he really was disgusted by men in general. Whichever way, I feel some pity for a man who lost complete sight of any love, generosity, and selflessness present in many people.
Hobbes' three causes of conflict have some problems. Apparently competition creates conflict whenever men desire the same thing. Sometimes. Yet this is not absolute. Men make sacrifices, men share their resources, men work together. In our economy today there exists some competition over customers and supplies, but an even greater degree of cooperation that overshadows said competition.
The cause of glory has a description of a man who must be at the center of every party. Perhaps men are naturally like this- indeed, perhaps men fit every description that Hobbes has bestowed upon them. Let us assume for a moment that we do. Then our greatest attribute is that we are constantly endeavoring to move farther and farther away from this state of atrocity and toward a state of increasing though never quite attainable perfection. The journey itself makes up for our flaws on the way. The long hike to morality is the fastest way to escape a fate described by Hobbes. "The longest way round is the shortest way home." C. S. Lewis
By
ThomasBatson, at Tuesday, October 24, 2006 9:56:00 PM
Hobbes began collecting ideas for what would later become Leviathan during his exile in Paris in the middle of the English Civil war. He sees man as unhuman. They live only to seek material things, and do not posses a value for others, or selfless thoughts. Hobbes says that he nature of man is in competition, diffidence and quarrell. He says that if everyman lives for himself then there would be no order, no justice or injustice, no set of rules or property or anything. There would only exist a man and what he has, which isnt society but solitutde, hobbes says. He wants absolutism because he feels that on ones own, man would create more conflict than he as an individual could handle, so if the entire group of people is under a single rule then they all have the same justices and injustices. Like Nate said, since he was exiled during the chaos, Hobbes would naturally want order.
By
manxomefoe, at Tuesday, October 24, 2006 10:51:00 PM
Hobbes wrote Leviathan in response to the English Civil War. He saw every person as more or less the same in their inability at total brillance. That people are all the same tired little machine. Hobbes is arguing for an absolute rule in order to reign in all the constant conflicts each individual entity constantly perpetuates due to a constant need for more power. His idea of a social contract is one of the many agreeing to be subjec to the few, so that with this narrowed view agreement and peace may arise. A possible reason why he would want a political structure like this is he did live through the English Civil and the special breed of confusion and destruction it brought with it. To Hobbes, it may have seemed like England was turning upon itself, like the snake that bites its own tail. Perhaps he saw the very root of this to be the conquest of power by individuals involved.
By
laura, at Wednesday, October 25, 2006 3:16:00 PM
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