Political Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes
Political Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes was one of the most influential political philosophers of all time, providing both support and justification of government. During his lifetime there was considerable political turmoil between the King and the Parliament, whereby Hobbes wrote in support of the King and the concept of absolute sovereignty. What is particularly interesting about Hobbes’s writings is that he was the first philosopher to use a scientific approach in an attempt to understand human behavior. Supported particularly by the notion of mechanic materialism, the idea that anything can be reduced to material bodies in motion. Through his most highly regarded work Leviathan, Hobbes explores human nature and provides rationale for the need of government. In the absence of government, there can be no possibility of society and thus civilized life ceases to exist as man is said to be in a state of nature. Such a state is akin to that of war, where a man acts solely in the pursuit of self-interest regardless of the detriment he may be causing to others. Thus, Hobbes proposed that man in the interest of self-protection would use reason and enter into covenant, in turn, creating a commonwealth based upon a social contract. Under such circumstances with authority residing in an absolute sovereign the condition for morality is present.
The basis for Hobbes’s conception of the state of nature resides in his pessimistic views regarding the nature of man. That is to say, Hobbes believed human nature was completely egoistic and, ultimately, man lacked compassion or regard for fellow human beings. As one is devoid of concern for anyone else, each individual is solely interested in attaining what he or she desires and is primarily driven by competition, diffidence, and glory. In achieving the ends to one’s happiness, one must use his or her power through engaging in intense competition for limited resources. It must be noted that Hobbes believed that in the state of nature man was essentially equal in terms of power, in that, every individual had the capacity to kill. Under such circumstances, without any sort of organization or central governing power, man is “in that condition which is called war; and such a war, as is of every man, against every man” (109). This concept is further supported in one’s ability to...