Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was prematurely born after his mother heard the news of the Spanish Armada coming to invade England. According to Hobbes’ autobiography, Hobbes was not born alone but with a twin “fear”. Hobbes lived through the civil war and political chaos of England’s history. Hobbes Political philosophy was of a devoted Monarchist thus it sided with the absolute rule of King Charles 1. And before the beheading of King Charles 1 in 1642, Hobbes fled England in terror of persecution by the parliamentarians as the strife between the king and parliament was becoming critical. With Hobbes experiences of anarchy and political violence, in 1951 Hobbes published the Leviathan where Hobbes presented the hypothesis of an ideal society.
What was Thomas Hobbes’ ideal society?
For Hobbes, before one can establish an ideal society,
it is important to understand the nature of man. Human beings have different
natural strengths but equal in the ability to harm one another. And if two
human beings desire the same thing, the obvious natural outcome of that is war as
man is naturally egoistic and selfish. Hobbes further argued that the life of
man outside political authority constricts would be characterized by a nonstop
war. Which Hobbes refers to as the state of nature where “every man is against
every man”. “The life of a man in a state of nature", as Hobbes puts it in
the Leviathan, “is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.”. Thus, Hobbes
argued that man cannot continue to live in a state of nature if humanity is to
survive and so Hobbes proposed the need for man to compromise his desires and
give up his freedom in trust that others will do the same to come up with what
Hobbes referred to as a covenant (social contract) that will ensure man’s
survival with the provision of rights and assignment of duties. In a nutshell,
the ideal society for Hobbes is a product of a compromise of
the self-interests between individuals.
Who should rule the ideal society?
According to Hobbes, an absolute sovereign ruler
should rule. In other words, an absolute monarch.
What was the nature of Hobbes’ Covenant (social contract)?
Ø Both
the sovereign and the subjects could not breach the covenant.
Ø the
power of the sovereign granted by the covenant was to impose on all of the
subjects.
Ø The
covenant left room for some liberties and natural rights of the subjects to
exist.
How did Thomas Hobbes justify the
monarch’s absolute authority?
I.
Firstly,
according to Hobbes, laws are certain and effective only if they are completely
enforced, and the enforcer of these laws (who is the monarch) will be able to
enforce them if they have absolute authority.
II.
Secondly,
Hobbes preferred the evils of the absolute monarch over the evils of the
chaotic state of nature that has no absolute monarchical authority.
What are Thomas Hobbes’
views on other forms of government?
Hobbes despised oligarchy, democracy, and aristocracy
as these forms of government involved several people high up in the authority
chain who would eventually conflict internally and lead to the conflict of
society as a whole.
Criticism of Thomas Hobbes
1.
Hobbes' psychological account of the state of nature has no historical or anthropological evidence to support it. Some
claim Hobbes assumed this account because of his terrible life experiences.
2.
Hobbes argues that leaders should be given
absolute authority to establish peace in the society; however, people’s
interests are different and may vary from time to time, and an absolute ruler
certainly will not keep up with this change and not allow people to protest or
demand the recognition of their current desires.
3.
Hobbes advocated for peace and security
that the absolute monarch would grant at all costs, which was not the only
alternative as John Lock who lived at the same time as Hobbes suggested in his
political philosophy.
Check out the next Political philosopher on 'Who should rule' question: John Locke here
Mainly
adapted from:
Popkin, R.H & Stroll, A. (1972). Introduction to philosophy.
2d ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Reference
Popkin, R.H & Stroll, A. (1972). Introduction to philosophy.
2d ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston