Thomas Hobbes Research Paper

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Recommended: Thomas Hobbes on State of Nature in short note

Thomas Hobbes was born in Westport, adjoining Malmesbury, England, on April 5, 1588. His father was the disgraced vicar of a local parish, and in the wake of the precipitating scandal (caused by brawling in front of his own church) he disappeared, abandoning his three children to the care of his brother. This uncle of Hobbes', a tradesman and alderman, provided for Hobbes' education. Already an excellent student of classical languages, at age 14 Hobbes went to Magdalen Hall in Oxford to study. He then left Oxford in 1608 and became the private tutor for William Cavendish, the eldest son of Lord Cavendish of Hardwick (later known as the first Earl of Devonshire). In 1610, Hobbes traveled with William to France, Italy and Germany, where he met other leading scholars of the day, such as Francis Bacon and Ben Jonson. Hobbes' pupil died in 1628, and Hobbes was left searching for a new one (always finding himself working for various wealthy and aristocratic families, Hobbes later worked for the Marquess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a cousin of …show more content…

He also advocates rule by an absolute sovereign, saying that chaos--and other situations identified with a "state of nature" (a pre-government state in which individuals' actions are bound only by those individuals' desires and restraints)--could be averted only by a strong central government, one with the power of the biblical Leviathan (a sea creature), which would protect people from their own selfishness. He also warned of "the war of all against all" (Bellum omnium contra omnes), a motto that went on to greater fame and represented Hobbes' view of humanity without

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