Introduction to Political Theory Midterm Exam 2

Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan & John Locke's Political Writings

Thomas Hobbes

1588-1679, Leviathan: mid 1640s; English text, not in translation; first theorist of state/commonwealth; born in “climate of fear”, spanish armata + ships

Time Period Between Machiavelli & Hobbes - Luther

• Protestant Reformation

• 95 thesis’ about catholic corruption

• Justification by faith alone: relationship with God, seemed as though church sold spiritual goods relating to how long loved ones would wait for afterlife

• Luther: nothing we can do to determine whether or not we are justified; we can’t absolve from sin

• Matter of belief or attitude towards God

• Idea of priesthood of all believers: If church exists to mediate relations w/ God (stands between us & God)

  • Explosion in biblical scholarship & more accurate translation of the Bible

  • Printing Press: new editions of the bible, Luther helped translate the Bible to German

  • Decreases authority of catholic churches, disperses power now w/ increased access to scripture

Descartes

• 16/17th Century French Philosopher/Radical Doubt

• How do I know what I think I know?

  • Finest institutions/literature in Europe; learning various arguments but Descartes wanted to actually “know”

  • On what basis can I know things if scripture has shown to be wrong at times/contradictory

  • Memories/other internal thoughts subject to be doubted

• Posture developed: Radical doubt → Descartes says: “I think, therefore I am” “Cogito ergo sum” I know I exist

• Fundamental truths; as it were in the beginning

Francis Bacon

• Scientific Method

• New organon (instrument) - idles of the mind influenced by bias and opinions (idles of the tribe)

  • We need to smash idles to get to the truth of things

• Scientific Method: If you follow these steps (experiment instead of observation), smashes idles and allows things to be seen how they truly are

• Replicability Crisis: Many famous experiments cannot be replicated, meaning we don’t have great reasons to trust results

• Hobbes emphasis on demonstration & agreement

Technologies

Printing press (intended for mass consumption), emerging middle class w/ higher rates of literacy; compass range of exploration, gunpowder (underlying destructive capacity of people)

Huguenots

French protestants, since Luther arrived nothing but trouble

English Civil War (1640-1649)

• Leviathan published at the end

• War between English Parliament (House of Commons) & the Crown (royalty)

  • Church of England - under authority of the crown

  • 1630’s: King Charles avoids by not calling the Parliament until 1640s where he runs out of money - Parliament establishes a calling schedule & causes war to break out

    • Ends in 1649 where King Charles is caught & head was cut off; proclaiming England won’t have a King anymore

Rump

Removing everyone who was previously loyal to king (49-53)

Protectorate

53-60, essentially a king but trying to avoid a monarchy

Restoration

Calls Charles II (1660), forgets everything that had happened, essentially making little to no progress

Empiracle Pluralism

Proliferation of books driven by at-home medicine, claiming to know to solve various diseases

Breakdown in Authority

State and Church erosion - who exercises in England?

Point of Leviathan

Reestablish the base of authority

• Kings in charge of authority for violence

Authority derived from people

Hobbes is not a democrat, but believes sovereign lies in the people

Ecclesiology

Deals with organization of the church (various offices, deriving of authorities)

• “No power on Earth compares to this”

Book of Job

Old testament, reference to image of Leviathan

• Jewish God & other character competing for soul of Job, number of monsters depicted to show power of Jewish God of Old Testament & all other powers a man might face

Hobbes Method

Purges (forget everything you think you know about politics and human nature)

• Building axiomatize, trying to establish definitions & clear ideas, building increasingly complicated proofs

Science

Rigorous process of naming things

Reason

Adding up/subtracting meaning of words

• Proper ordering of the state

Empiricism

• Thought → Sense → Cognizance

• Knowledge is made of sense data

• We are a blank slate when born, world puts stuff “into us” through senses

Rationalism

Opposite of empiricism (Descartes - rationalist)

• What can reason & reason alone demonstrates

Psychic Materialism

All that there is, is “stuff” (materials) human beings were “stuff” plus an extra element

• A materialist thinks there is nothing other than “stuff”

Nominalism

• The idea that everything must be named, described, and understood

  • Human cognition divides everything up and names it, naming things were very important for Hobbes

Reason

Nothing but reckoning (contrast reason with logos)

→ Hobbes does not think that reason is special, it is the thing we use to understand “stuff” & coming to new truths

Error

Having bad names (insufficiently precise)

Science

Methodical working through of reason

• Vital Motion: Involuntary

• Animal Motion: Voluntary

Endeavor

We are always endeavoring (appetite or aversion)

• We are always moving towards pleasure and away from pain

Pluarism

There is an inescapable dispute over what’s good/bad

• Hobbes is a pluarist, no method is going to provide final answer

Subjectivism

Opposes objectivism, morality is determined by subject

Objectivism

Argues objective, there’s some answer to what’s good/wrong

State of Nature

Conceptual device/imaginative exercise; trying to imagine what humans may have been like before the advent of political thought in society/ how would we behave; state of war: all against all

Anarchy

State of no ruling

3 Passions

• Fear of violent death

• Desire of comodious living

• Hope by industry to obtain them

Natural Right

Having the natural right to all things

Natural Law

Refers to the three laws of nature: peace, obligation, justice

Natural Equality

negative, why we are in a state of competition

• Nothing is just or unjust by nature; we are all allowed to do whatever we want

First Law of Nature

Seek peace, follow it, and be ready to make war when you need it.

• Look for opportunities to cooperate, cooperate with others until they will not with you.

Second Law of Nature

Everyone is sufficiently equal with rights to all things; Golden Rule (agree to something); obligation with others to observe and follow certain rules

Third Law of Nature

Only works to lay down right to all things if we observe the rules we’ve made; moral rules/rules of conduct

Ecclesiastical

Sovereigns have authority of censorship regime in relation to religion

Absolute Theory of Sovereignty

To Hobbes, Sovereign’s power is unchecked, cannot be questioned or undermined.

Hobbes’ Rules/Laws of Nature

Points towards one goal → promotion of peace

• Increasing conflict (contumely behavior)

• Do not do onto others what you would not want done to you

• Eternal laws, easy to follow

• We base our moralities on appetites and aversions (pluralism)

  • We all agree we do not want to die (universal evil)

Jurisprudence

Discussion of law

Personation/Corporation

Collection of people making financial decisions/can be looked at like a person; commonwealth representation

Explain Cover of Leviathan

• People making up one body → Corporation

• Holding a sword, representing power

• Holding a crosier, representing ecclesiastical (religious) power & authority

State

Gets its power because we give it power/authority & abide by its rules

• Ought to be overpoweringly powerful

• Sovereign: Person inside state that exerts power → sovereignty

“ism”

Kind of ideology

John Locke

1632-1704; Introduction to American Political Thought (Political Writings)

Hobbes

1651, English Civil War, Locke’s Second Treatise 30 years alter

• 1649: Civil War ends, Cromwell dies, apology to Charles II, restored to crown in 1660

Radical Wigs

Earle of Shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley Cooper) leading efforts but dies in 1681, wigs lose power

Planned Rye House Plot

Hide in house w/ rye, wigs would jump & shoot Charles II and James II, wigs were caught and condemned

Glorius Revolution

Pressure on James II was so great, he voluntarily (was forced) to leave → Parliament selects William of Orange (Dutch) to be king

• Wife is Mary (Charles I daughter)

• Presented w/ English Bill of Rights (1689)

Second Treatise Publication Dispute

Claimed 1689/90, Locke wrote in course of revolution?

• Dated to 1679 → Locke wrote as justification for radical wigs

Targets

• Hobbes argument for absolutism can be seen

• Sir Robert Filmer: patriarchy → argues through genesis, God giving Earth to Adam; by time Adam dies, many other people born (patriarch), kings natural right to rule over his people

  • Filmer active in 1630s, lineage traced to James I

  • Locke responding to Divine Right of Kings

Legacy of Locke’s Thought

• Liberalism -→ Political Ideology

  • Dominant ideology of modern age; talks about rights relating to liberal democracy, revenge of private things, individual rights & limited government

• Revolution

Absolutism

Opposite of limited government, government is unlimited in its powers

Erastianism

Church ought to be understood under civil government

• Separation of Church and State

Secularism

Separation of political and religious views (as far as possible)

Theocracy

Church on top; state derives power from church

Laws of Nature (Hobbes VS Locke)

• Hobbes: Observe rules, exit state of nature

• Locke: Moral obligation by God

Egalatirianism

According to nature, we’re all equal (violation of principle of natural equality)

Suicide Taboo

Not allowed to destroy ourselves (law of nature)

Fundamental Law of Nature

Obligated to preserve mankind

• If someone violates law of nature, we have a right to punish them (executive right of nature)

• Right to revolution is an extension of this right