Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes

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Thomas Hobbes undertakes the endeavor, in his writing, to constitute a state of order and peace. In his book Leviathan—where we find the foundation of the ideas we have studied by Hobbes—Hobbes attempts to build an understanding of what is the purpose of the state, civil society, and the nature of every one with in it. Hobbes was born in England during a time when English society thrived in discord —both civil and international wars engulfed England in that point in time. So it is almost as if Hobbes’s war time experience has led him to his attempt to constitute a state of order and peace.

Through Hobbes’s writing we can determine his views on humans are rather pessimistic; humans according to him are naturally evil. Hobbes states that humans in their essence seek their own self-interest; as well as that humans are not guided by reason but by passion. In a state of nature, humans are licensed to do and take as they yearn or need, depending on each individual self-interest; thus natural law, which is regarded as a constant state of conflict and war. Humans in a state of nature are inclined to see each other as potential inflictor of pain—each is seen as a potential murderer, in extreme cases. That been the case, each individual seeks more power, this is their self-interest, out of fear of each other; this then leads to the surrounding individuals to seek more power themselves, again, concerning their self-interest, for their own salvation. The mightiest of the passion’s embraced by humans are the fear of death and the desire for power. So the contest for power that was mentioned ultimately leads to death—warfare—because it is impossible to establish a harmonious permanence. This leads to the cycle and struggle for ...

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...ests. Hobbes forgets to see the depth that the subjective nature can achieve, the same depth he himself enacted through his books.

Although he states that religion is the foundation of morality, Hobbes sees human nature as the source of morality—that is a strength that his writings possess. Fundamentally because it gives more control to humans over their individual will. This isn’t such a good thing in Hobbes’s mind perhaps—he claims that humans are naturally evil. I appreciate this idea in a different sense; humans are the sole creator of religion and any idea or superstition they fallow, therefore they must be the source of morality. Another strength of self-interest as the measure of right action is that it connects the aim and the standard of morality, because the individuals self-interest must be connected to both the aim and the standard.

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