plan
Q: Critically discuss Hobbes’s argument that the power of the state is legitimate.
intro - 200 words
key argument: the power of the state is legitimate
outline pathway
Hobbes’ argument - 400 words
“in the state of nature, every man has the right to do whatever he will in order to preserve and benefit himself; the result is the state of war…. To bring this self-defeating condition to an end, every man is supposed to contract with his fellows to establish a commonwealth under a single and all-powerful sovereign” (Gauthier, 1977, p. 134 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2264939)
“the family is itself a miniature commonwealth; the father, or sometimes the mother, is sovereign, and the children are supposed to contract with their parent to obey in return for being allowed to live, in the way in which the vanquished in war contracts with the victor” (Gauthier, 1977, p. 135) (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2264939)
“He argues that in the absence of coercive authority, the threat of scarcity among the goods of desire leads to competition for the goods of spirit” (Gauthier, 1977, p. 146) (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2264939)
“…as Hobbes insisted, only an all-powerful sovereign could have prevented endless conflict” (Gauthier, 1977, p. 162) (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2264939)
“according to Hobbes men cannot pass from the state of nature which is a state of war of all against all, into the state of orderly society except by handing over their natural rights…to a sovereign” (Ritchie, 1891, p. 670) (Contributions to the History of the Social Contract Theory on JSTOR)
“the sovereign is not a party to the contract, but is created by it. Hence to resist the sovereign is to return to the state of anarchy” (Ritchie, 1891, p. 670) (Contributions to the History of the Social Contract Theory on JSTOR)
“Hobbes regards civil society as only possible when the individual surrenders his natural rights” (Ritchie, 1891, p. 672) (Contributions to the History of the Social Contract Theory on JSTOR)
“power in fact changes its nature in the transition from the state of nature to civil society; it changes from natural to artificial” (Read, 1991, p. 507) (Thomas Hobbes: Power in the State of Nature, Power in Civil Society on JSTOR)
“the power of the Sovereign, for instance, is a function of the lack of power of the subjects” (Read, 1991, p. 506) (Thomas Hobbes: Power in the State of Nature, Power in Civil Society on JSTOR)
“the sovereign power provides the definitive interpretation of the moral law” (Duke, 2014, p. 613) (HOBBES ON POLITICAL AUTHORITY, PRACTICAL REASON AND TRUTH on JSTOR)
“it is only through the commands of sovereign authority that a determinate interpretation of those laws in the form of positive civil laws is introduced” (Duke, 2014, p. 611) (HOBBES ON POLITICAL AUTHORITY, PRACTICAL REASON AND TRUTH on JSTOR)
“…the law is simply what the sovereign commands” (Duke, 2014, p. 611) (HOBBES ON POLITICAL AUTHORITY, PRACTICAL REASON AND TRUTH on JSTOR)
“Hobbes characterises the commonwealth as an artificial animal animated by the artificial soul of the sovereign” (Duke, 2014, p. 611) (HOBBES ON POLITICAL AUTHORITY, PRACTICAL REASON AND TRUTH on JSTOR)
“It is essentially man’s passions, especially the passion for power that put him in the state of nature” (Ake, 1970, p. 469) (Social Contract Theory and the Problem of Politicization: The Case of Hobbes on JSTOR)
“the sovereign thus instituted (not necessarily one person, but in any case bearing the person of the commonwealth) is not a party to the covenant. He promises nothing to the subjects, and is bound only by the law of nature to exercise his power reasonably” (Pollock, 1908, p.109) (Hobbes and Locke: The Social Contract in English Political Philosophy on JSTOR)
objection: - 400 words
self-preservation & absolute sovereignty can be seen as largely incompatible
to what extent can individuals pursue self-preservation, if agreeing for a sovereign to rule is the best way to do so in avoiding the state of nature, but the sovereign’s rule does not meet the standards set by individuals?
Hobbes also describes humans as innately selfish » a selfish sovereign might not act in the best interests of the individuals it presides over
“the submission of one’s will to the authority of the sovereign does not include foregoing one’s right of self-preservation because this would be anathema to the purpose of the Commonwealth” (Weber, 2012, p. 228) (REBELS WITH A CAUSE: SELF-PRESERVATION AND ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY IN HOBBES'S "LEVIATHAN" on JSTOR)
“Hobbes notes that subjects can refuse to obey sovereign commands to kill themselves, or their fellow subjects, as well as commands to serve as soldiers during warfare, so long as they provide a substitute” (Weber, 2012, p. 228) (REBELS WITH A CAUSE: SELF-PRESERVATION AND ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY IN HOBBES'S "LEVIATHAN" on JSTOR)
“…problematically for Hobbes’ defense of the necessity of absolute sovereignty, Hobbes notes that, if a great number of people have already resisted the sovereign, they can justifiably continue their rebellion, on the basis of their right of self-preservation. Once a group of subjects has disobeyed the sovereign, it is legitimate for them to continue to rebel” (Weber, 2012, p. 228) (REBELS WITH A CAUSE: SELF-PRESERVATION AND ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY IN HOBBES'S "LEVIATHAN" on JSTOR)
“the subjects’ retention of a right of self-preservation in the Commonwealth creates serious problems for Hobbes’ argument that only an absolute sovereign can secure peace” (Weber, 2012, p. 234) (REBELS WITH A CAUSE: SELF-PRESERVATION AND ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY IN HOBBES'S "LEVIATHAN" on JSTOR)
“the sovereign is not subject to the covenant that creates the Commonwealth, so his actions are always just. The subject who disobeys the sovereign on the basis of self-preservation, though he violates the letter of the covenant, stays true to its purpose, his own self-preservation” (Weber, 2012, p. 239) (REBELS WITH A CAUSE: SELF-PRESERVATION AND ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY IN HOBBES'S "LEVIATHAN" on JSTOR)
“the inalienability of the right of self-preservation sets limits to obligation: We cannot oblige ourselves to submit to violence or to refrain from resisting it” (Ristroph, 2015, p. 1036) (SOVEREIGNTY AND SUBVERSION on JSTOR)
my agreement - 250 words
“the sovereign is authorised to act on the rights of subjects in order that he may secure their Peace and Common Defence” (Duke, 2014, p. 618) (HOBBES ON POLITICAL AUTHORITY, PRACTICAL REASON AND TRUTH on JSTOR)
“the role of sovereign authority in Hobbes’ political philosophy is to establish peace and stability by serving as a definitive and unambiguous source of law” (Duke, 2014, p. 605) (HOBBES ON POLITICAL AUTHORITY, PRACTICAL REASON AND TRUTH on JSTOR)
“there is thus a natural law constraint upon political obligation, but such a constraint is satisfied just in case the sovereign is better able to provide protection of the welfare of subjects than would be the case in the state of nature” (Duke, 2014, p. 611) (HOBBES ON POLITICAL AUTHORITY, PRACTICAL REASON AND TRUTH on JSTOR)