Thomas Hobbes' Prudential Oughts

“Whensoever a man transferreth his right, or renounceth it; it is either in consideration of some right reciprocally transferred to himselfe; or for some other good he hopeth for thereby. For it is a voluntary act: and of the voluntary acts of every man, the object is some good to himselfe.” (192)

Proposed with the question of whether Thomas Hobbes’s manifesto was written of “oughts” constructed upon; prudential, moral or ethical foundations it is the former that prevails through his writing.

Hobbes spoke of man universally when describing a human’s primitive state, being one in a “state of nature”. Without the presences of a common power, a sovereign, preventing man from entering their imminent condition of war, man would ultimately live a life that was “…nasty, brutish, and short.” (186) For in the state of nature it is “every man, against every man.” (185)

This being true, in absence of common power to create and enforce laws there would be no injustice. (188) Therefore the accepted rules of conduct to follow, principles of ethics and our interpretation of morality would not exist. The principals of Good & Evil would be subjective, left to the interpretation of each person. According to Hobbes the catalyst for the process of an absolute power would not be because it is right & just to keep war at bay, but because man has an intrinsic desire to live. Man fueled by his own self interests and capable of reason will see an absolute power, (as every man is naturally equal), as the only way to preserve himself.

For it is the “general rule of reason, that every man ought to endeavour peace” (190) It is in man’s self-interest to follow the laws of nature and to willingly give up all of his rights in order to secure his or her safety & preserve his or hers way of life, as long as all other’s do the same. It is in all reasonable men’s self interest to agree upon these laws but, if other men will not do the same it would be “to expose himself to prey…rather than to dispose himself to peace.” (190) This would directly contradict man’s general rule of reason.

This is the primary prudential “ought” for which his writing is justified. Hobbes’s concept of what is ethical & moral are solely dependant upon the laws set forth by the sovereign.