Leviathan
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Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan provides a material, pessimistic view of mankind. In this work, he unveils the nature of man, the nature of nature, and the nature of the absolute state and social contract. Man in his natural state is a self-serving egoist constantly at war with all other men in order to satisfy his own desires. Hobbes equates politics to a branch of physical science. He explains that just as all physical things in motion follow their own direction, so, too, left to their own devices, all humans follow their own (i.e., self-interested) direction. His first principle of human behavior is thus egoism or self-interest. Life in the state of nature for humans is nasty, brutish, and short. Accordingly, the self-interested nature of humans is the cause of all social conflict, where humans are all at war with one another “Hereby it is manifested, that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war, as is of every man against every man” (Falthman and Johnston 88). Because of the unpleasant and dangerous state of nature for a happy and peaceful like, Hobbes contends that humans willingly enter into a social contract for their mutual protection. In doing so, they must accept a common and absolute power to protect them from themselves and each other. In the case of Hobbes, he was talking about the absolute monarchy and sovereign right of the monarch to
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at does gives us a contract or duty to do so is the intention of the act and they ends its promotes or achieves. Therefore, we have no right to refuse such an order if its subverts the end or ends for which the sovereign mandated it. However, we do have a right to refuse such a request if it does not subvert this end. Since all men are rational egoists in Hobbes’ view, we can see the dilemma. There may be times when the sovereign orders men into life-threatening situations, such as war, to protect the interests of all members of society. However, no rational egoist will choose to willingly enter such a situation where his own life is in jeopardy. The dilemma is this: If no rational egotist will enter into such a situation, then there is no way to protect the interests of all in a case such as war. Obviously some rational egotists must be willing to go to war if the state is to be preserved, otherwise society will fall back into a state of nature.
One of the best ways of resolving this apparent contradiction is to look at the reasons and distinctions Hobbes provides that make the mechanical state different from the social state. Only human animals for the social state, while all other animals exist in a mechanical state
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1777
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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