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Thomas Hobbes views on government
Thomas Hobbes views on government
A critical analysis of Thomas Hobbes concept of the Leviathan
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At first reading, Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan can be an intimidating piece of academia. In spite of this, Part 2 of his work, ‘Of Commonwealth’, is still a core piece of political philosophy. Hobbes proposes that the only true functional, permanent and society is one of absolute authority. This essay is focused primarily on the identification and translation of Hobbes’ main doctrines against divided authority, versus the aforementioned unified state. This will be done by looking arguments about the initial construction of the state, the problems of giving each individual the responsibility of power, and benefits of the sovereign as a singular all-powerful figure versus alternatives. Hobbes first presents us with the practical problem of partial authority, that is to say, non-absolute. He exemplifies this in monarchies where the ruler does not necessarily have absolute power. He cites that when kings or queens are not in full control of their states from the outset, situations that arise where power is uptaking may appear as an ‘unjust act’ to the common man. Therefore, Hobbes concludes, the often critical uptake of power in times of crisis, war, or rebellion can be circumnavigated by unifying state power from initial construction, rather than dividing it. …show more content…
Exemplifying what is being suggested here in a modern context could be expressed in taxation – maker the ruler subject to such ideas such as paying taxes. In essence, this argument simply suggests that putting the power of the law above the power of the lawmaker renders both weakened. Therefore, the Leviathan concludes that a unified sovereign who is independent of the laws they enact and enforce is more beneficial to the Commonwealth than a larger government body subject to its own rules and
There is a diverse amount of themes that could be compared in Republic by Plato and Leviathan by Hobbes. Through these books the two authors each construct a system in which their ideal state can thrive. Both writers agree that government is necessary for the good of the people, however what that government entails drastically differs. Their images of a utopian society are largely based on their perception of human beings. Seeing as how their views on human nature are quite opposite from the other’s, it is understandable that their political theories have many dissimilarities.
Although Hobbes is a liberal thinker in some respects his ideas presented in the Leviathan resemble that of a monarchy. Hobbes asserts that the commonwealth can fall under three types of regimes “when the representative is one man, then it is the commonwealth a monarchy... assembly of all... a democracy... assembly of a part only... aristocracy” (L 19.1). However despite this, Hobbes proclaims that monarchic rule is superior since “the private interest is the same with the public” (L19.4). Hobbes posits that people within the state of nature require a Leviathan in order to rein since the state of nature is anarchic. He proposes that by forming a sovereign, the people must trade their innate and natural rights for safety and peace within the state otherwise they would have to submit to a life of “continual fear and danger of [a] violent death...solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” (L13.9). In his work Leviathan, Hobbes presents a system of government that is more of a principality than a republic in nature. However still the Leviathan does include some republican virtues. The following paragraphs will discuss Hobbes’ Leviathan and its resemblance to both republic and principality and finally conclude that the Leviathan does not differ from either governing style.
middle of paper ... ... The sovereign is able to hold absolute power but is equally controlled by the actions of the people as they are considered to be a servant of the people. Hobbes’ political thought is said to be the foundation for Parliamentary sovereignty in Canada. He believes society's main goal is to provide a safe, functioning life without the constant fear of death.
In The Leviathan Thomas Hobbes argues for the establishment of a society that does not contain the elements of its own demise. Hobbes views civil war as a society’s ultimate demise, and the only way to avoid it is for the citizens initially to submit to an absolute political authority. For Hobbes, civil war is inevitable in every type of government except an absolute government. In order to sustain this absolute government, the citizens not only must submit to the absolute political authority, but they must also not partake in activities that actively undermine the absolute political authority’s power. For these reasons, it is clear that Hobbes believes in political obedience and its ability to influence the peace of a society. Furthermore,
For Machiavelli’s sovereignty, it is the result of the pursuit of self-interested goals, both on the part of the ruler and the ruler. In Hobbes’ sovereignty, it is the logical result of fear and of human, peace seeking, nature. Works Cited Hobbes, Thomas. A. Leviathan, ed., pp. 63-63.
In the Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes has many different things to say about human nature and what drives men to commit certain actions. All of the actions committed by men and Thomas Hobbes theories revolve around two central ideas, competition and desire. And because of competition and desire, people can never reach true happiness. Man’s own desires and need to be better than the next person will stop true happiness. But in order to understand why Hobbes believes this, his view on human nature has to be looked at first. In Chapter 11 of the Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes places great emphasis on desire. Hobbes says that mankind always does whatever it needs to in order to accomplish its desires. When we accomplish one desire, we simply move on to whatever we want next. The progress that is made in accomplishing one desire and moving on to the next one is what he calls Felicity (Leviathan Ch.11). The reasons that men have desires in the first place are because we have a life style that we love and enjoy. So naturally, humans want to do everything they can in order to keep that lifestyle.
Thomas Hobbes begins Leviathan with Book 1: Of Man, in which he builds, layer by layer, a foundation for his eventual argument that the “natural condition” of man, or one without sovereign control, is one of continuous war, violence, death, and fear.
Louis P. Pojman uses Leviathan, (1651) author Thomas Hobbes to relate to the situation in the novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding’s. In the Lord of the Flies, Golding’s tells a story about how a group of young boys became shipped wrecked on an unidentified, deserted island, and became savages as a result of losing their moral compass through killing. In the mist of being saved at the end, one can only reflect on how ironic that they were saved by a Navy ship that was inadvertently doing the same thing just on a larger scale, and more civilized, than that of which the children were doing. In The Moral Life, Pojman shows Hobbes explanation of this behavioral state by stating “…Human beings always act out of perceived self-interest,
Is the purpose of government today, similar to that of philosophers of the past, or has there been a shift in political thought? This essay will argue that according to Machiavelli’s The Prince, the purpose of government is to ensure the stability of the state as well as the preservation of the established ruler’s control, and that the best form of government should take the form of an oligarchy. In contrast, in his book, Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes argues that the purpose of government should be to preserve the peace and security of men and, that the best form of government would be an absolute monarchy which would sanction such conditions. This essay will utilize themes of glory, material advantage, peace and stability to illustrate
Hobbes was the first of the three philosophers to put forward the idea of a social contract as the basis of government. A social contract is specifically “an implicit agreement among individuals to create and respect the apparatus of law, in exchange for certain benefits” (H. Hamilton-Bleakley, Oct. 29, Lecture). In other words, individuals agree to give up parts of their power to a political sovereign in exchange for benefits like safety and political stability. During Hobbes’ time, when the Protestant Reformation was occurring, this political stability was a main concern, which prompted Hobbes start thinking about society, raising questions as to what life was like before civil society, and what reasons there were for entering into a political organization. Throughout Leviathan, Hobbes tackles these questions
Hobbes, on the other hand, believes that perfect commonwealth is ruled by sovereign power to protect the security of commonwealth and is granted absolute authority to ensure common defence. “The Leviathan” strictly argues that civil peace and social unity are most likely achieved by common wealth through social contract. Hobbes prefers wealth over anything else, and he thinks that the wealthier you are the more power you should have. He attempts to prove the necessity of the Leviathan is to keep peace and prevent civil
The main critics of Thomas Hobbes’ work are most often those with a more optimistic view of human nature. However, if one is to really look at a man’s actions in depth, a self-serving motivation can always be found. The main problem with Hobbes’ claims is that he does not account for the more Darwinian perspective that helping one’s own species survive is at the same time a selfish and unwar-like act. Thus his conclusion that without a governing body, we are essentially at war with one another is not completely true as years of evolution can help disprove.
Throughout Thomas Hobbe’s work, Leviathan, he discusses causes and resolutions of human conflict and the ways in which he believes a society should be controlled and operated. Hobbe’s wrote Leviathan in the year 1651, after the English Civil War. This historical event led Hobbes to argue that in order for a society to function to the best of its ability and to avoid further conflict, a central authority must be in control.
There are cases in which the sovereign may take advantage of their non-revoked rights, such as taking things from others, which Hobbes considers to be taxes, meaning that the sovereign is comparable to a governing authority, Hobbes does not think that contracts will last without a governing force, and, although, threats still exist within the society, whether they originate from others within the society or the sovereign, Hobbes believes, at this point, people are capable of living normal lives in which they are not constantly in a state of
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), who was known as an English philosopher who wrote the book: The Leviathan to point out the flaws of all mankind also to show how evil humans are, The Leviathan is an evil sea monster as Thomas Hobbes compared and described all human kind as Leviathan’s, Thomas Hobbes was also well known that he criticized states and governments in his Leviathan’s book as he pointed out all the flaw as well as given demands to higher states with no shame or worriedness. After the publish of his book people started wondering on why did he have an evil perspective of all human kind, some said it was due to the fact that he was born in harsh circumstances such as wars and conflicts ( English civil war) which made him think so harshly