...Podorsky, Essay 1, Page 207 question 1, 2 and 3 In this essay I will discuss What Hobbes means by saying that when humans live in a state of war everybody against everybody, there is neither justice or injustice. I will also compare Glaucon’s and Hobbes ideas of justice. I will also discuss whether selfishness is in itself a bad thing. Hobbes imagines that humans started off living in a state of nature in which each person is free to decide for himself what he needs, what he's owed, what's respectful, right, moral, sensible, and also free to decide all of these questions for the behavior of everyone else as well. In this situation where there is no common authority to find resolution these many and serious disputes, Hobbes imagined that the state of nature could easily turn into a “state of war”. Hobbes said in describing this state "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” (Rosenstand 206). Hobbes argues that the state of nature is a wretched state of war in which none of our important human ends are dependably achievable. Human nature also affords resources to escape this wretched condition. Hobbes says that once the conflict reaches a life threatening point people will do anything to preserve their own lives, “where every man is enemy to every man” (Rosenstand 206). Hobbes argues that each of us, as a rational being, can see that a war of all against...
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...Essay 1 Hobbes write that there is “a doctrine plainly and directly against the essence of a commonwealth, and that it is this: That the sovereign power may be divided.” (p.213). It is based upon his argument that sovereign power can never be divided because it is the only way to ensure peace and security in the commonwealth, and have a smooth function. Sovereignty is the foundation of authority and the representation of power underlying all civil peace. It is an artificial person, a creation of human ingenuity, a product of art, and it is not natural. The people come together to create sovereign and to bring about that commodious living (p.78, prg.14). Since the people create it, the power is based on the people to become the representative and bring peace and security. To ensure peace, an individual must obey his sovereign in all things, and Hobbes shows that obedience to a single master of the sovereign always provides security in his life (p.80, prg.4). We can see however, that there is an issue behind the obedience of an individual. Human beings have desires that are unlimited, and if human beings are set free, a state of war is inescapable. In order to avoid this state of war, absolute sovereignty is necessary. These desires are driven by two strong passions that Hobbes believe are the most powerful to motivate us (p.30). The concept of fear, specifically of violent death, triggers the need to defend oneself in any way possible. Self-defense against violent death is...
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...Thomas Hobbes “I was born in fear and remained in fear my whole life.” Who is the best sort of person to lead us? Not important to Hobbes All People are competitive, full of fear, and full of pride. People are Selfish Invents concept for life without government STATE OF NATURE is when there is no governmental body to rule over the people Hobbes believes it is not good, people would not be happy. Business would not exist The purpose of government is to put truth in words. What is the basis of government? Social contract- agreement of citizens to abide by laws and rules government creates. Natural laws are terms of social contract: Seek Peace, give up something (right to make own decisions), agree to keep promises, establish a rule maker called the sovereign, give him the power of enforcement Hobbes believes that the need for government is to protect us from our other fellow citizens. Rebelling against the government is a bad thing in Hobbes’ eyes because it puts society closer to State of Nature. John Locke What is the purpose of government? What would life be like in a state of nature? Human nature- everyone is selfish, everyone is born with rationality Locke believes that things wouldn’t change much in state of nature , business would exist. We need government to solve basic economic problems, Social Contract- people give up 3 inalienable rights: Life, liberty, right to Property Government must promise to improve the common weale or improve peoples lives and...
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...is man free in this world. The social scientist that attempted to put a fixed meaning to the concept of free will, and who will be the subject of my analysis today, is Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes uses voluntary action, aversion, and deliberation, to try answer the question of whether or not man is free to do as he pleases. On page 118 of Leviathan, Hobbes first introduces us to voluntary action, or voluntary motion, stating that it is: “as to go, to speak, to move any of our limbes, in such manner as is first fancied in our minds.” Man has to first desire to do something, and that is voluntary action. The basis of voluntary action, according to Hobbes, is imagination (Leviathan, p. 118). When an action is still in one’s mind, before man translates it into action, it is called Endeavor (Leviathan, p. 119). When Endeavor is towards something, it’s a desire. When Endeavor is forward something, it’s called an aversion. Naturally, human beings have heir desires, appetites, and fears, but they also experience something called Deliberation, which is “putting an end to the Liberty we had of doing, or omitting, according to our own Appetite, or Aversion”. Hobbes then proceeds to define free will in term of Deliberation on p, 128, Leviathan: “Will therefore is the last Appetite in Deliberating”. Furthermore, Hobbes believes that deliberation is expressed subjunctively, as in there are consequences to every action, and man is aware of that. Free will is given to every individual...
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...Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher who was born April 5,1588 and died December 4,1679. He attended Oxford University where he studied classics. He was a tutor by profession and also traveled around Europe to meet scientists and to study different forms of government. Thomas Hobbes was the first great figure in modern moral philosophy. He became interested in why people allowed themselves to be ruled and what type of government would be best for England. Hobbes had a pessimistic view of people. His view was that humans were mean creatures who would do anything to better their positions. Also that people could not be trusted to make decisions on their own and a country needed an authority figure to provide direction and leadership. Therefore, he believed in monarchy- a government that gave all power to a king or queen. He said that democracy would never work because people were only interested in promoting their own self-interests. Despite this doubt of democracy, he believed that a contrasting group of representatives presenting the problems of the common person would prevent a king from being unfair and cruel. Hobbes originates the phrase 'Voice of the people' meaning one person could be chosen to represent a group with similar views. Legitimacy of government Hobbes was a dedicated materialist. The views that got him in trouble were related to this, as Hobbes claimed to believe in God...
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...The Works of Thomas Hobbes The moral and political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes is very different from those of the ancients, specifically Aristotle. As a thinker during the Scientific Revolution, his picture of morality is framed in science. And while science is usually thought of to have no opinion about questions of right and wrong, Hobbes would argue otherwise. He wanted to move moral and political philosophy into the realm of science, where answers can—and should— come from science and reason, and away from the monopoly over human values held by religious texts. Furthermore, he called for a powerful, civil authority to combat what he called “the state of nature (Leviathan).” It may seem normal to define morality and science as entirely separate from each other, that is, to say that science can help explain why we may value certain things, but it can never determine what we should value. However, Hobbes sees an overlap between facts and values and attempts to use empirical answers to help figure out philosophical problems. This idea of applying facts to issues of good and evil rests upon the notion that questions such as “What is truly worth living for?...Or even dying for?” “What is morality?” and “What is a ‘good’ life?” have answers. Hobbes would say that they do, and with good reason. Questions like “What food is healthy?” or “What exercises are best?” are much like moral questions because it is difficult to find an exact answer due to the many different, correct...
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...Thomas Hobbes was born April 5, 1588 and died December 16, 1679. John Locke was born August 29, 1632 and died October 28, 1704, They were both English philosophers. The second Treatise of Government is by John Locke and the Leviathan is by Thomas Hobbes. Leviathan is Hobbes argument about social contract theory of government. Hobbes idea commonwealth is ruled by a sovereign power responsible for protecting the security of the commonwealth and granted absolute authority to ensure the common defense. Hobbes a word derived from the Hebrew for “ sea monster” and the name of a monstrous sea creature appearing in the bible. Leviathan is divided into four books: of man, of common-wealth, of a christian common-wealth. Book 1 contains the philosophical...
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...Thomas Hobbes and John Locke share similar but different views in regards to the “state of nature”. They both believe that man is created equal and take the similar stance that there should be a governing body to execute laws that have been placed upon citizens. Hobbes appears to believe that if people are left to themselves, people will only think of themselves, are not trustworthy and are constantly concerned about death at the hands of others. Locke seems to believe that even though people may only be concerned about themselves, that logic keeps people from selfish behavior. Hobbes overall view in the stat of nature is that it turns in a war based on people's self centered and violent impulses. Hobbes believed that “every man is an enemy...
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...James Wells 12/11/14 Hobbes vs. Locke This paper will compare and contrast the views of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke expressed in Leviathan and Second Treatise of Government. The paper will show the basic differences between the two philosophers views, is Hobbes' distrust of the people and Locke's relatively greater trust of the people and distrust of the government's power and the likelihood of the abuse of that power. Hobbes' view in Leviathan aims at ensuring civil order, which means for him the absolute power of the government, or the Leviathan, which power the people have given him through the social contract. Locke, on the other hand, keeps much more power in the hands of the people through the legislature, which means, in effect, majority rule. Locke was also deeply concerned with maintaining the rights of the people, especially the right to own property. Locke's political view produces a much more democratic system, while Hobbes' produces a much more authoritarian, if not totalitarian, system. Both Locke and Hobbes start their political analysis with reference to the state of nature. However, their definitions of this state of nature stand in stark contrast to one another. The differences on their perception of the state of nature correspond to the final conclusions of what is important in a civil society. The contrasting perceptions of the state of nature on the part of these two philosophers are crucial, because they use those perceptions as the foundations for...
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...The pure state of nature or "the natural condition of mankind" was deduced by the 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, in Leviathan. Hobbes argued that all humans are by nature equal in faculties of body and mind. From this equality and other causes in human nature, everyone is naturally willing to fight one another: so that "during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man". In this state every person has a natural right or liberty to do anything one thinks necessary for preserving one's own life; and life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" (Leviathan, Chapters XIII-XIV). In short Hobbes believes is self-preservation, even if something was someonelse's, if you felt the need for it you had the right to fight for it and claim it as your own. Hobbes described this natural condition with the Latin phrase bellum omnium contra omnes (meaning war of all against all), in his work De Cive. Within the state of nature there is neither private property nor injustice since there is no law, except for certain natural precepts discovered by reason ("laws of nature"): the first of which is "that every man ought to endeavor peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it" (Leviathan, Ch. XIV); and the second is "that a man be willing, when others are so too, as far forth as for peace and defense of himself he shall think it necessary, to lay down this...
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...were they? (Type here→) Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher, and was very involved in his politics. Where were they from? (Type here→) He was from London, England When did they live? (Type here→) He was born April 5th, 1588 and died on December 4th, 1679. Thesis statement: Tie in the name of your historical figure plus the SPEC words (social, political, economic, & cultural). (Type here→) Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher that affected England politically, socially, economically, and culturally. Topic sentence (social) (Type here→) He had moral ideas that were based off of natural authority that rules us. Claim #1 (Type here→) Citizens do not have the...
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...Christian Benjamin Mrs. Sauter History/ Block F 12/7/14 A Comparison of Social Contracts A social contract is a distinctive agreement among the members of a society to cooperate with one another to gain social benefits. There have been many social philosophers throughout history who have written about their opinion on how society should function within a successful government. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English philosopher who believed that the human race was corrupted from birth and that they were cruel, greedy and selfish. He also believed that people will fight, steal, and torment each other. He further believes that people must be ruled by an absolute monarchy and the surrounding governments must grant all power to the king. Another English philosopher,...
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...John Locke, Thomas More, and Thomas Hobbes were all political philosophers of their time. Thomas More, would be the least of a philosopher out of the three. Thomas More, a respected statesmen and prominent political figure and advisor to Henry VIII, was best known for authoring Utopia which depicts the social, religious, and political customs of a fictional island and attempts to define an ideal society. More’s Utopia portrays a humanist ideal world, where there is freedom and harmony between individuals and Sovereign themselves. The difficulty with Utopia is that it does not consider actual human behavior patterns. A society can accept the idea of perfect society, there is no need for “thank you” or “I’m sorry” in a society that runs on perfection and generosity runs like a spectacular waterfall. The problem is that Utopia wouldn’t work, a society would become susceptible to negative behavior, once one individual abuses the generosity of others, others will see the advantage and start to follow...
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...According to Thomas Hobbes in his book Leviathan, “The question who is the better man, has no place in the condition of meer Nature;…”(Hobbes XV.211). Hobbes established in his book that all men are equal in Nature; this is the ninth law and very important part of his political philosophy. Hobbes also reveals that his philosophy is significantly different than the writings of Aristotle. He challenges Aristotle’s views of the inequality of men, the good, and evil that controls man’s life. Hobbes would find that day’s society would view his ideal of the “ultimate government” as being liberal and not a complete representation of the United States’ ruling system. First of all, Thomas Hobbes’ ninth law of nature states that all men are created...
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...John Locke and Thomas Hobbes developed their political theories at a time of political, religious and social upheaval in England. Both Locke and Hobbes shared the enlightenment view of the world. Their scientific understanding of cause and effect shaped their views not just of physical objects and how they interacted, but also of people and how they interacted in society. Both men wrote their own theories of Social Contract; they share several similarities, but differ in the responsibilities and rights of the State. According to Hobbes, prior to the Social Contract, man lived in the State of Nature. Man lived in a chaotic condition of selfishness and constant fear. Man has a desire for order and security, so man entered into a contract to...
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