Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

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Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

In 1651, Thomas Hobbes published Leviathan, his famous work that detailed his physicalist outlook and his concept of the value of a social contract for a peaceful society and the nature of man. His major belief was that man is a beast that defines his identity through the need to be controlled under some kind of external, oppressive power. This essay will explain Hobbes’ views of man’s identity in the society and will demonstrate how it was mirrored in the political structure.

In Hobbes’ work, he explained that if individuals within a society continually lived by their own self-interests, they would continue to hurt each other and be stuck in a "state of war," or chaos. If the members of society were made to live within certain bounds that made it impossible for them to harm each other, the members of society would be in a "state of peace." The only way to achieve this peaceful society, Hobbes explained, was for all members to unconditionally transfer all of their ability and will, to defend themselves to the power of a "big brother" or "parent." This power would accept responsibility for mediating all disputes concerning the society, both internal and external. If any member of society violates an agreement with another member of that society, then that individual would be guilty of violating their unconditional agreement to support the social contract, which would then render them unjust and subject to punishment. Conversely, if the "parent" violated its own responsibility to protect the members of the society, that society could then find itself another power to rule it. All of this comes down to the fact that Hobbes truly believed that man would act as savages or beasts if left alone w...

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...es, one would become a moral barbarian. It is the fear of punishment of the "big brother" power that keeps the individuals under control.

Ironically, during the time that Hobbes wrote Levianthan in 1651, there was no such technology in his society. Hobbes foresaw the importance of governmental restraints to control the beast -like impulses found in the individual. He also possesses an inclination that people would accept such a government voluntarily because society realizes man is born with a savage nature, and without this control, society would be in complete chaos.

Bibliography:

Bibliography

1 Martinich, A.P., Thomas Hobbes: A Biography, New York, NY, Harper

Collins Publishers, 1999, pg. 154.

2Somerville, John and Ronald E. Santoni, ed., Social and Political Philosophy, New York, NY, Anchor Books, 1963, pg. 143-144

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