1. Thomas Hobbes 1588-1679

2. Background on Hobbes A product of the Puritan revolution and the English civil war. Royalist. Opposed to parliamentarianism and democracy. Leviathan, 1651.

3. Background on Hobbes Skeptical, empirical, materialistic. Anti-Catholic. “God” unlikely. No immaterial substances. The “father of atheists”.

4. Background on Hobbes Pragmatic. Effectiveness of government over legitimacy. Governmental preference = monarchy. No divine right. The father of “social contract theory.”

5. Leviathan Concerned with the evils of civil war and its accompanying anarchy. No worse condition than life without the protection of the state. Presence of strong government is essential. A defense of absolute government with a twist. Equality vs inequality. Self-interest vs public interest. “State of Nature”.

6. Hobbes, Human Nature, and the State of Nature 2 keys to understanding human nature. Self-knowledge. Fear and aggressiveness. Knowledge of the general rules of physics. Conservation of motion & humans. “Felicity.”

7. Hobbes, Human Nature, and the State of Nature Felicity and power. Sources of power. Survival of the fittest: Man in nature absent government = the “state of nature”.

8. Hobbes, Human Nature, and the State of Nature Divine right philosophy based on inequality. Hobbes’s philosophy held that men are equal. What makes all men equal? The relative capability to kill each other.

9. Hobbes, Human Nature, and the State of Nature Complicating factors in the state of nature. Scarcity. Implications of a relative shortage of goods. Inevitable that 2 men who desire the same kind of thing will desire the same thing. What I possess, others may desire.

10. Hobbes, Human Nature, and the State of Nature Uncertainty. Am I safe if I possess nothing? I may be perceived as a threat. Preemptive strikes. Man seeks not only immediate satisfaction, but also power in order to satisfy future desires. Reputation of power.

11. Hobbes, Human Nature, and the State of Nature State of nature becomes a state of war. Overriding emotion in the state of nature? Fear. Man attacks, not for gain, but for safety or reputation. Result = a war of self defense where every man is fighting every other man.

12. Hobbes, Human Nature, and the State of Nature State of nature is not actual combat, but a constant readiness to fight. Contemporary examples.

13. Hobbes and the “Natural Right of Liberty” Is there morality in the state of nature? Right or wrong, justice or injustice in the state of nature? Hobbes: injustice implies a breach of some law. Breach of law implies the existence of some lawgiver or common power.

14. Hobbes and the “Natural Right of Liberty” State of nature = anarchy = no common power. Therefore, no law. Therefore, no breach of law. Therefore, no injustice.

15. Hobbes and the “Natural Right of Liberty” Consequence: “every man has a Right to every thing; even to another’s body.” Man in the state of nature can do anything, even kill another, if he believes it will further his survival. Thus preemption is a form of defense. Invading others = a rational form of self protection.

16. Hobbes’s Solution to Life in the State of Nature Obviously, man can’t survive in the state of nature. Hobbes claims man would come to understand 3 fundamental laws. Man ought to seek peace. Man should forego the natural right of liberty, provided others are willing to do so as well. Man should perform whatever covenants he makes.

17. Hobbes’s Solution to Life in the State of Nature Problems with the 3 laws: Seem to contradict his earlier contention that there is no morality in the state of nature. They tell us it is rational to seek peace when he’s already argued that invasion of others is rational. –How can rationality require both war and peace?

18. Hobbes’s Solution to Life in the State of Nature Individual vs collective rationality. Individual rationality = what’s good for me. Collective rationality = what’s good for each individual, assuming everyone will act the same way. State of nature = individually rational behavior. 3 laws = collectively rational behavior.

19. Hobbes’s Solution to Life in the State of Nature Problem of collective rationality. Man tends to deviate from collectively rational behavior when it’s in his interest to do so. Hobbes’s solution: A sovereign who will severely punish those who violate the 3 fundamental laws. The great advantage of the state?

20. Hobbes’s “Social Contract” Men agreeing to forego their “natural rights of liberty” is a contract. The contract is made between subjects, not between subjects and sovereign. The sovereign is a creation of the contract--not a party to the contract. Since the sovereign is outside the contract, the sovereign can’t breach the contract.

21. Hobbes’s “Social Contract” Able to do as he sees fit (absolute power) and the subjects can’t complain of his actions.

22. Hobbes’s “Social Contract”

23. Hobbes and the Secular Theory of Moral and Political Obligation Man, by forfeiting his natural right of liberty for the liberties government may allow him, has thus obligated himself to the state. Forfeiture = a voluntary act. No coercion because the state was created out of the act of forfeiture. Voluntary obligation substituted for divine right theory.

24. Contemporary Relevance of Hobbes Often accused of being the father of totalitarianism. State as the source of morality and justice. Hitler/Stalin on the surface reminiscent of Hobbes. Key difference: Voluntary forfeiture of rights through the social contract.

25. Questions Do we live in a Hobbesian world? Americans tend to speak in Locke and act in Hobbes. Construction of perfect societies. Augustine’s City of God. A mall. Abandonment of cities. Homeowners’ associations.