LORELEI JOY A.
CORPUZ
The Biography of Thomas Hobbes
Thomas
Hobbes was born in April 5, 1588 in Westport,
Wiltshire, England. He died on December 4, 1679 in Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire at
a remarkable age of 91. He was an English philosopher who is considered one of
the founders of modern political philosophy (Sheldon, 2001).
Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book Leviathan, which established the
social contract theory that has served as the foundation for later Western
political philosophy (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,
2017)
Early life
Hobbes's
biography is dominated by the political events in England and Scotland during his
long life (Williams, 2017). Born prematurely on
April 5, 1588, when his mother heard of the coming invasion of the Spanish
Armada (a fleet of Spanish warships), Thomas Hobbes later reported that
"my mother gave birth to twins: myself and fear" (Encyclopedia
of World Biography, 2017). His father was a quick-tempered vicar of a
small Wiltshire parish church. Disgraced after engaging in a brawl at his own
church door, he disappeared and abandoned his three children to the care of his
brother, a well-to-do glover in Malmesbury. When he was four years old, Hobbes
was sent to school at Westport, then to a private school, and finally, at 15,
to Magdalen Hall in the University of Oxford, where he took a traditional arts
degree (Sorell, 2013).
Although he was not born to power or wealth or influence, his intellectual abilities, and his uncle's support, brought him to university at Oxford.
Although he was not born to power or wealth or influence, his intellectual abilities, and his uncle's support, brought him to university at Oxford.
In his adult life, Hobbes worked for one of the wealthy and
aristocratic family, the Cavendishes. He worked as a page and tutor of the
young William Cavendish. Over the course of many decades Hobbes served the
family and their associates as translator, traveling companion, keeper of
accounts, business representative, political adviser, and scientific
collaborator (Sorell, 2013). This
association provided him with a private library, foreign travel, and
introductions to influential people (Encyclopedia of World
Biography, 2017). Through his employment, Hobbes
entered circles where the activities of the King, of Members of Parliament, and
of other wealthy landowners were known and discussed, and indeed influenced.
Thus intellectual and practical ability brought Hobbes to a place close to
power. As the Civil Wars was being set, wars that would lead to the King being
executed and a republic being declared, Hobbes felt forced to leave the country
for his personal safety, and lived in France from 1640 to 1651. Even after the
monarchy had been restored in 1660, Hobbes's security was not always certain. Powerful
religious figures, critical of his writings, made moves in Parliament that
apparently led Hobbes to burn some of his papers for fear of prosecution (Williams, 2017).
Hobbes lived in
a time of upheaval. This turmoil had many aspects and causes, political and
religious, military and economic. England stood divided against itself in
several ways. The rich and powerful were divided in their support for the King,
especially concerning the monarch's powers of taxation. Parliament was
similarly divided concerning its own powers with reference to the King. Society
was divided religiously, economically, and by region. Inequalities in wealth
were huge, and the upheavals of the Civil Wars saw the emergence of fundamental
religious and political sects. Civil war meant that the country became
militarily divided. Hobbes's greatest fear was social and political chaos - and
he had ample opportunity both to observe it and to suffer its effects (Williams,
2017).
In October 1679,
Hobbes suffered a bladder disorder, and then a paralytic stroke from which he
died on December 4, 1679. His last words are said to have been "A great
leap in the dark" in his final moments. He was interred in St John the
Baptist's Church, Ault Hucknall, in Derbyshire (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2017).
His Works
Although social
and political turmoil affected Hobbes's life and shaped his thought, it never
hampered his intellectual development. His early position as a tutor gave him
the scope to read, write and publish and brought him into contact with notable
English intellectuals such as Francis Bacon. His self-imposed exile in
France brought him into contact with major European intellectual figures of his
time, leading to exchange and controversy with figures such as Descartes,
Mersenne and Gassendi (Williams, 2017).
Hobbes’ first work, a translation of Greek historian Thucydides's History
of the Peloponnesian Wars, did not appear until 1629. Thucydides held that
knowledge of the past was useful for determining correct action, and Hobbes
said that he offered the translation during a period of civil unrest as a
reminder that the ancients believed democracy to be the least effective form of
government (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2017).
Hobbes earned his first philosophical fame
in his work entitled The Elements of Law (1640). This was
Hobbes's attempt to provide arguments supporting the King against his challengers.
De Cive [On the Citizen] (1642) has much in common with Elements,
and offers a clear, concise statement of Hobbes's moral and political
philosophy. His most famous work is Leviathan, a classic of
English prose. Leviathan expands on the argument of De Cive,
mostly in terms of its huge second half that deals with questions of religion.
Other important works include: De Corpore [On the Body]
(1655), which deals with questions of metaphysics; De Homine [On
Man] (1657); and Behemoth (published 1682), in which Hobbes
gives his account of England's Civil Wars. But to understand the essentials of
Hobbes’s ideas and system, one can rely on De Cive and Leviathan.
According to Williams (2017),
although Leviathan is more famous and more often read, De
Cive actually gives a much more straightforward account of Hobbes's ideas.
His final works were a curious mixture: an
autobiography in Latin verse in 1672, and a translation of four books of the Odyssey
into "rugged" English rhymes that in 1673 led to a complete translation
of both Iliad and Odyssey in 1675 (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2017).
Social
Contract Theory
Hobbes
is famous for his early and elaborate development of what has come to be known
as “social contract theory”, the method of justifying political principles or
arrangements by appeal to the agreement that would be made among suitably
situated, rational, free, and equal persons. He is infamous for having used the
social contract method to arrive at the astonishing conclusion that we ought to
submit to the authority of an absolute—undivided and unlimited—sovereign power (Lloyd &
Sreedhar, 2014).
According to Thomas Hobbes (1651), the state of nature does not
refer to a peaceful, harmonious social life but instead it is a hellish life
with chaos and violence. Hobbes believes that the state of nature in history
was a “state of warre” during which all individuals struggled against all other
individuals and finally ended this chaotic life by making a social contract.
“For it is a voluntary act: and of the voluntary acts
of every man, the object is some good to himself” (Hobbes, p. 192).
Hobbes believes that human beings are naturally selfish and they can
do all kinds of bad acts when they can gain from these bad acts. This
understanding of the enormous selfishness of human beings directs Hobbes to a
very dark theory, which does not trust in human beings and thus favors a regime
of absolute monarchy with severe rules and little space for freedoms. Hobbes
considers human beings as rational egoists that always look for the
maximization of their self-profits, and he tries to explain the transition from
the state of nature to the organized state by human beings’ realization that it
is more profitable to live in an organized state (Makaleleri, 2011).
“Nature hath made men so
equal, in the faculties of body, and mind, as that though there bee found one
man sometimes manifestly stronger in body, or of quicker mind than another; yet
when all is reckoned together, the difference between man, and man, is not so
considerable, as that one man can thereupon claim to himself any benefit, to
which another may pretend, as well as he” (Hobbes, p. 183).
Hobbes thinks that humans are somehow naturally equal and there is
not too much difference between their mental and physical abilities. According
to him, this equality of ability increases the competition for limited
resources between people, especially in a world without a central binding power
in which even the weakest can beat the strongest by taking help from others or
by using weapons, etc. So, in a stateless stage individuals have the motive to
compete with others in a very hostile sense; in addition, they live with the
fear of being killed or losing what they have (Makaleleri, 2011).
“from equality proceeds
diffidence” (Hobbes, p. 184).
Hobbes calls this fear “diffidence” and explains it as the lack of
confidence people have in the state of war due to their inevitably unsafe
lives. This fear forces individuals to look for power after power not only to
gain more profit, but also to protect what they have in their hands. After
competition and diffidence, the third motive that orients people in the state
of war according to Hobbes’ theory is the desire to have glory. People want to
have reputation and power but what they really want is to prevent potential
threats by frightening or threatening other people who could attack and kill
them in this unsafe world. Hobbes concludes his theory by the realization that
rational egoist human beings will profit more in an organized state, and thus,
to make a social contract among them and give their power to a sole person who
would be like a mortal God called “Leviathan” who would provide peace and order
in society by making laws deriving from laws of nature and by punishing guilty
people.
“This is the Generation of
that great LEVIATHAN, or rather of that Mortal God, our peace and defence. For
by this Authoritie, given him by every particular man in the common-wealth, he
has the use of so much power and strength conferred on him, that by terror
thereof, he is inabled to forme the wills of them all, to peace at home and
mutual ayd against their enemies abroad” (Hobbes, pp. 227-228)
Life without
Rule and Right to Property
Life without
Rule
Humans are
nowadays born to this world with lots of rules and regulations. Most of us in
this world lives in places where there are institutions called “states” which
regulate and organize social life. Today, the existence of the state has become
an absolute condition for the well-being of society. However, the emergence of
the state did not come simultaneously with the beginning of human life. People
lived for a long period of time without the presence of the state. They lived
freely without a principal power to govern them.
Many philosophers have tried to explain the necessity of the
existence of the state by imagining or studying this stateless period of time.
Thomas Hobbes is one of these philosophers who tried to explain the transition
from this stateless stage called “the state of nature” to an organized state by
means of social contract theory in his masterpiece “Leviathan”. According to
Makaleleri (2011), Hobbes’ theory can be considered as very pessimistic and
dark but we cannot underestimate the role of political problems that he
witnessed during his lifetime in shaping his theory. Hobbes saw Spanish Armada,
30 Years War, First & Second Bishops’ War, Scottish invasion of England,
Irish Rebellion and English Civil War.
According to Hobbes, humans are by nature, needy and
vulnerable. Our capacity to reason is as fragile as our capacity to know.
Humans are prone to error and undue influence. When we act, we may do so
selfishly or impulsively, or in ignorance, on the basis of faulty reasoning or
bad theology of others’ emotive speech (Williams, 2017).
Hobbes believed
that in the absence of a state, human beings would react to each other with
great savagery. He believed that all humans had equal ability to kill one and
other creating a constant state of insecurity. As a result they would seek law
and order for their own protection. They would all agree to place someone in
authority to tell them what to do. Hobbes suggested that a number of people
would appoint a king for the sole purpose of giving orders and preventing constant
turmoil. He argued the only way to achieve this is by removing the individual's
power and bestow it upon one man. As a consequence the king has an absolute
right to make whatever laws he wants, he owes no responsibility to the
individual other than to keep the peace. In effect Hobbes was setting up an
absolute authority free of any contractual or natural law restraint entrusting
all power to the ruler to enforce unity obedience (Teacher, November, 2013).
Hobbes thinks the best we can hope for is
peaceful life under an authoritarian-sounding sovereign. The worst, on Hobbes's
account, is what he calls the "natural condition of mankind," a state
of violence, insecurity and constant threat. In outline, Hobbes's argument is
that the alternative to the existence of a state is a situation no one could
reasonably wish for, and that any attempt to make the state accountable to the
people must undermine it, so threatening the situation of a “state of nature”
that we must all wish to avoid. Our only reasonable option, therefore, is a
"sovereign" authority that is totally unaccountable to its subjects.
Life without Right to Property
Hobbes in his book, Leviathan, states the second
law of nature, “that a man be willing,
when others are so too, as far forth as for peace and defence of himself he
shall think it necessary, to lay down this right to all things; and be
contented with so much liberty against other men as he would allow other men
against himself. For as long as every man holdeth this right, of doing anything
he liketh; so long are all men in the condition of war” (Leviathan, Ch. VI). Hobbes
believed that it is natural and rational for people to give up some liberty in
order to gain security of self-preservation. The condition in which people give
up some individual liberty in exchange for some common security is the social contract. Hobbes defines contract
as "the mutual transferring of right."
In the state of nature, everyone has the
right to everything (including property) - there are no limits to the right of
natural liberty. The social contract is the agreement by which individuals
mutually transfer their natural right. In other words, I give up my natural
right to steal your food because you give up your natural right to steal mine.
In place of the natural right we have created a limited right; in this case the
right of property. Hobbes notes that we do not make these agreements explicitly
because we are born into a civil society with laws and conventions (i.e.
contracts) already in place. It is by performing the thought experiment
regarding the state of nature and following the chain of reasoning Hobbes put
before us that we can see the foundations of our commitment to civil law (Oregon
State University, 2017).
Thomas Hobbes believed that in the state of
nature/war, property did not exist. People might agree to divide a certain
field between them, but without a coercive power, either side could evade on
the bargain whenever it was convenient. For Hobbes, property exist only after
the creation of a sovereign power capable of enforcing contracts (Sommerville J. , 1992).
According to Hobbes, "From whence we may collect that the
propriety which a subject hath in his lands consisteth in a right to exclude
all other subjects from the use of them; and not to exclude their sovereign, be
it an assembly or a monarch". Contrary to the philosophy of Bodin where
the sovereign should respect his peoples’ property rights except in emergencies,
Hobbes believed that people have no property rights at all against the
sovereign.
In Hobbes' view, just as property is
the creation of the state, so is marriage. A couple in the state of nature
might agree to mutual fidelity and child support, but there would be nothing to
stop either breaking their word if so inclined. Only with the creation of the
state could marriage contracts be enforced, therefore the rules of marriage regarding
adultery, divorce, polygamy, etc. were all at the discretion of the state's
laws (Sommerville J. , 2017).
The Relevance of Government According to
Hobbes
Governments were created,
according to Hobbes, to protect people from their own selfishness and evil. Hobbes viewed government primarily as a device for ensuring collective
security. Political authority is justified by a hypothetical social contract
among the many that vests in a sovereign person or entity the responsibility
for the safety and well-being of all (Sorell, 2013).
In some of his early works, Hobbes only says that there must be a
supreme sovereign power of some kind in society, without stating definitively
which sort of sovereign power is best. In Leviathan, however,
Hobbes unequivocally argues that absolute monarchy is the only right form of
government.
In The Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes talks about his views of human
nature and describes his vision of the ideal government which is best suited to
his views. Hobbes believed that human beings naturally desire the power
to live well and that they will never be satisfied with the power they have
without acquiring more power. After this, he believes, there usually
succeeds a new desire such as fame and glory, ease and sensual pleasure or
admiration from others. He also believed that all people are created
equally. That everyone is equally capable of killing each other because
although one man may be stronger than another, the weaker may be compensated
for by his intellect or some other individual aspect. Hobbes believed that the
nature of humanity leads people to seek power. He said that when two or
more people want the same thing, they become enemies and attempt to destroy
each other. He called this time when men oppose each other - war.
He said that there were three basic causes for war: competition, distrust and
glory. In each of these cases, men use violence to invade their enemies’
territory either for their personal gain, their safety or for glory. He
said that without a common power to unite the people, they would be in a war of
every man against every man as long as the will to fight is known. He
believed that this state of war was the natural state of human beings and that
harmony among human beings is artificial because it is based on an
agreement. If a group of people had something in common such as a common
interest or a common goal, they would not be at war and united they would be
more powerful against those who would seek to destroy them. One thing he
noted that was consistent in all men was their interest in self-preservation.
Hobbes view of human nature lead him to develop his vision of an ideal government. He believed that a common power was required to keep men united. This power would work to maintain the artificial harmony among the people as well as protect them from foreign enemies. This power would either be one man or an assembly appointed by the people. The people would make an agreement among themselves to all submit to this ruler. The people would submit their wills to the will of their ruler who would in turn assure their self-preservation. Thus the ruler would have absolute control over his domain. Hobbes referred to this kind of ruler as a Sovereign and his people as subjects (123 HelpMe Editors, 2017).
Hobbes view of human nature lead him to develop his vision of an ideal government. He believed that a common power was required to keep men united. This power would work to maintain the artificial harmony among the people as well as protect them from foreign enemies. This power would either be one man or an assembly appointed by the people. The people would make an agreement among themselves to all submit to this ruler. The people would submit their wills to the will of their ruler who would in turn assure their self-preservation. Thus the ruler would have absolute control over his domain. Hobbes referred to this kind of ruler as a Sovereign and his people as subjects (123 HelpMe Editors, 2017).
Hobbes is a strong advocate of monarchy as the best form of government and
the only one that can guarantee peace. In general, Hobbes seeks to define the
rational bases upon which a civil society could be constructed that would not
be subject to destruction from within. Accordingly, he delineates how best to
minimize discord, disagreement, and factionalism within society—whether between
state and church, between rival governments, or between different contending
philosophies. Hobbes believes that any such conflict leads to civil war. He
holds that any form of ordered government is preferable to civil war. Thus he
advocates that all members of society submit to one absolute, central authority
for the sake of maintaining the common peace. In Hobbes’s system, obedience to
the sovereign is directly tied to peace in all realms. The sovereign is
empowered to run the government, to determine all laws, to be in charge of the
church, to determine first principles, and to adjudicate in philosophical
disputes. For Hobbes, this is the only sure means of maintaining a civil,
peaceful state and preventing the dissolution of society into civil war (SparkNotes
Editors, 2005).
Because the people were only
interested in promoting their own self-interests, Hobbes believed democracy -
allowing citizens to vote for government leaders - would never work. Hobbes
wrote, "All mankind [is in] a perpetual and restless desire for
power... that [stops] only in death." Consequently, giving power to
the individual would create a dangerous situation that would start a "war
of every man against every man" and make life "solitary, poor,
nasty, brutish, and short" (Hobbes,
1651).
Despite his
distrust of democracy, Hobbes believed that a diverse group of representatives
presenting the problems of the common person would, hopefully, prevent a king
from being cruel and unfair. During Hobbes' lifetime, business began to have a
big influence on government. Those who could contribute money to the government
were given great status, and business interests were very powerful. In order to
offset the growing power of business, Hobbes believed that an individual could
be heard in government by authorizing a representative to speak on their
behalf. In fact, Hobbes came up with the phrase "voice of the
people," which meant that one person could be chosen to represent a group
with similar views. However, this "voice" was merely heard and not
necessarily listened to - final decisions lay with the king (Geib, 2017).
Conclusion
Thomas Hobbes is an English philosopher who became famous
for his political thought. He has set intriguing and arguable claims on the
natural condition of mankind, known as the “state of nature”, where humans are
by nature selfish, materialist and cruel creatures. The state of nature, according to Hobbes, is
the "war of every man against
every man," where people will fear for death and
violence. This state is so
horrible and Hobbes’ primary concern is how humans can live in peace and avoid the
“state of war”. For Hobbes, the
best way to achieve peace is to construct the Leviathan through social
contract. That is, a peaceful society can be achieved if humans will obey an
unaccountable sovereign, an artificial being called the Leviathan, who is
empowered to decide on every social or political issue. Under the Social
Contract, individuals mutually transfer their natural rights, including rights
to property, to the Sovereign.
Hobbes’ views may have stemmed from his life experiences
– a boy abandoned by his father, raised by an uncle and lived most of his life
working for the royals and other influential people in his era. He lived in a
time of political uprising where monarchy was questioned and parliamentary
politics was being supported by some people in his era. There was division of
power and Hobbes saw and experienced its devastating effects. Having lived
close to the royals and influential people, Hobbes became a strong advocate of
absolute monarchy.
Hobbes demonstrated the need for a government pretty
well. He, along with John Locke, had defended that the existence of a
government arises out of a social contract that individuals need a sovereign to
safeguard them. However, Hobbes’ ideal government is an
absolute monarchy and people do not have chance to question or object to the
deeds, decisions of the Leviathan. He thought that people would not be able to be productive or live in
peace without a strong authoritative power telling them what to do. He believed
that this should come in the form of an absolute ruler so that there would
always be a consistent exercise of political authority. Contrary to Hobbes, John
Locke believed that people had rights that were intrinsic and could not be
taken away by others, such as the right to property and to happiness. He
believed that people should be free to make their own choices as long as they
were not dangerous to others. Locke also believed that the government should be
representative and that the people should have the opportunity to elect
leaders. However, despite this belief in representative government, Locke only
wanted people with land and an education to be able to be elected because he
felt the average person would not be able to make good decisions for the
nation. Hobbes ideal government, which is absolute monarchy, is prone to abuse
by those in power. It can come in the form of dictatorship which is not
applicable to the dynamics of modern societies unlike Locke’s which is more
suitable.
Though
Hobbes made a strong point on the necessity of a government, his reason for its
existence is arguable. His claims that humans are by nature selfish, brutish
and nasty is somewhat pessimistic. Jean-Jacques
Rousseau offers a better conception of human nature. For Rousseau
(1762), violence is a learned behavior and that humans have a built-in innate
mechanism to not harm other humans. This means that
conception of good and evil are as innate and inherent to us as our capacity to
recognize and feel pain and pleasure. It means that morality is inscribed by
birth, ready to be constructed through our natural experiences. Rousseau believes
that humans are driven by compassion, pity, and self-love and he views human
nature as inherently good. This is a more accurate depiction of the ‘actual
state of nature’ where cooperation is possible. This is because it mediates
much of the conflict within the state of nature while allowing for the
establishment of a sovereign.
Hobbes’ philosophy rejected traditional higher law
doctrines and encouraged people to accept the established laws and customs of
their nations, even if they seemed oppressive, for the sake of civil peace and
security. His analysis has been a cause of the demise of natural law, that all
of our rights come from God or nature and are inherent to our being, and the
acceptance of positive law, that our rights are granted by the government,
society or other men and therefore can be taken back by them as well, as the
only reliable guide for political authority.
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