Leviathan
...argues that all men are created equal, both mentally and physically. Where everyone is equal the weakest person can kill the strongest. With all people being equal there are three principle causes of quarrel in a state of nature. One of these causes of quarrel is competition for material possessions. Each person struggles to have more possessions then other people, because possessions equal more power. The second reason for quarrel is the distrust of each other. People distrust everyone because they realize that everyone else wants their power. The third reason for quarrel is glory. Where once the person holds some power, they are very hostile and will attempt to preserve their power at any cost. Therefore Hobbes concludes that -3- in a state of nature, everyone is in a perpetual war against everyone else where there is no law and everyone lives in constant fear. Hobbes describes the Laws of Nature which he believes aim at preserving a persons life. Preserving your life is a major self interest to people because your life is the only one that matters in a state of nature. By following Hobbes’ laws of nature, people find pleasure in preserving themselves. The first law of nature is “That every man ought to endeavour peace as farre as he has hope of obtain it; and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek, and use, all helps, and advantages of warre.” (Hobbes: Leviathan p.190) Hobbes is basically saying that we should attempt to seek peace and follow it but, if we cannot find peace, we have a right to defend ourselves. The second law of nature tells us that is we renounce our right to do what is necessary to stay alive and avoid war, everyone else must renounce their right as well, or it will never work. Peace is pleasurable so it is our first objective to seek peace no matter what. Hobbes believes that in order for this to work people must make contracts with each other where these rights can be mutually transferred. These contracts are enforced through fear of the consequences of breaking the contract, the fear of war. Hobbes modelled his laws of nature based on reason. The same kind of reason that is used in geometry. Reasoning according to Hobbes is nothing but reckoning (adding and subtracting) of general principles into more specific principles. Reasoning needs to be developed over time with use. We are not born with reason. Hobbes takes general principles -4- and derives them into his laws of nature. Through the use of reason it can be seen that the laws of nature can have flaws. For instance, if a contract is made between two people not to steal from each other, with each person being totally self interested and selfish, they would both try and violate the contract if it seemed in their best interests and if they thought they could get away with it. Because of this, contracts don’t hold well. This is another reason why humans have motivations to end the state of nature. These motivations are: The fear of death, the desire to have adequate living, and hope to attain this through one’s labour. According to Hobbes, the only way to end the state of nature and stop war, is to give unlimited power to a political sovereign who will punish people if they violate their contracts. People will agree to this for purely selfish reasons, they don’t want to be in at state of nature, and it is more pleasurable to have a policing power that punishes the breakers of contracts. Hobbes’ solution to the state of nature is to have a sovereign power that can keep peace and provide safety. Sovereigns establish a commonwealth by one of two ways. One way is through acquisition (force) or through institution (agreement). The people must voluntarily recognize the sovereign, and transfer all their rights to him. The number one duty of the sovereign is the protection of the people of the commonwealth. If this duty is fulfilled, the sovereign’s power is absolute. The sovereign can do anything and the subjects nothing, the contract from the people to the sovereign cannot be broken and sovereignty cannot be given to anyone else. The sovereign is not bound by law, and has no contract with the -5- people. In essence this power makes the sovereign a “mortal god”. The subjects have surrendered all rights to the sovereign except their right to self defence, that right cannot be transferred. The sovereign power will hold as long as the duty of providing protection to the people of the commonwealth is fulfilled. If this duty is not being provided, then the power of the sovereign dissolves and the people go back to living in a state of nature. Hobbes sees giving up the rights of the people as justification for preventing war, because the people would have their interests satisfied if they were not at war with each other. Hobbes preferred monarchy as the best form of sovereign government because he believed that there should be only one supreme authority. Sovereign power is indivisible and can never be shared, and a second government can never be formed. To do this would be to cause a civil war. Aristocracy and Democracy are the other forms of sovereign power that would work but Hobbes believed that the monarch’s interests are the same as the peoples and that his advisors can meet with hi...