Thomas Hobbes

how well connected was hobbes

he was secretary for francis bacon

what sort of reasoning did he champion

deductive

what elements of bacons reasoning did hobbes view as inadequate

inductive reasoning

• too experimental

• never provides secure knowledge that is irrefutable

• an element of doubt can always exist when some observed facts cannot be explained

what inspired hobess’ belief in deductive reasoning

greek mathematican

what was hobbes keen to use deductive reasoning to prove

notion of a powerful monarchy

what other idea did Hobbes propose to explain the nature of the world

materialism - the idea that everything is created by matter and that all observed events including those to do with the mind and spirituality are the result of matter acting on matter

how did this eliminate a belief in magic

magic was not founded on matter. concepts such as the soul and the existence of angels could be questioned

what natural explanations did hobbes provide of magical phenomena

unusual phenomena had been observed, such as miracles, but never been proven to go against the law of nature, and cases of possession were the result of madness or epilepsy

what room in Hobbes’ theory was there to justify a belief in spirits

he didn’t deny that there could be sprits with material bodies that are too fine to be seen by humans

who had read the work of hobbes

john webster, balthasar bekker

what evidence of the impact of hobbes’ ideas are there on webster and bekker

webster - believed witches could not command supernatural powers

bekker - believed that there was much unknown about nature