James Madison & Hobbes: State of Nature to Commonwealth
James Madison as a Constitutionalist and Hobbes: The State of Nature & Laws (Chapters 13-17)
James Madison: Early Life and Constitutional Contributions
At age , James Madison was the youngest member of the Virginia convention. This convention resulted in Virginia being the first colony to declare independence.
He authored the first American Declaration of Rights (known as the Virginia Declaration of Rights in ).
He also wrote the first American Constitution (the Virginia Constitution in ).
His influence in this assembly was foundational.
Throughout his political career, he was a leader in writing, ratifying, implementing, and interpreting the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, establishing one of the two classic approaches to constitutional interpretation.
Note: Kevin Goodman, a history professor and Madison scholar, will deliver a Constitution Day talk in Raymond Hall.
Hobbes: The State of Nature (Chapter 13, Sections 10-12)
Conjecture and Reality: Hobbes argues that the state of nature is not merely a philosophical conjecture based on human passions, but a living, observable reality.
Individual Behavior: Even within political order and safe neighborhoods, people lock their doors and secure valuables (e.g., from children and servants in the century).
Civil Wars: Political orders can quickly collapse into civil wars, as seen in the Balkans in the (e.g., Sarajevo Olympics in quickly followed by conflict). Hobbes clearly had the English Civil War in mind.
International System: Among nations, the international system is characterized by anarchy, lacking a common power to keep every nation "in awe."
Equality of Strength: While Hobbes posits that human beings within a given society are equal in strength (Chapter ), this doesn't apply to nations.
Nations: There are weaker and stronger nations, and the international balance of power adjusts to reflect these disparities.
Not a "One-Worlder": Hobbes is not an advocate for a single world government. Nations' unequal strengths prevent them from uniting in the same way equally weak individuals would form a commonwealth.
Logic's Tendency: However, Hobbes's logic does lean towards a form of universal sovereignty or agreement among nations for universal peace and commerce, rather than constant conflict. This aligns with concepts like democratic peace theory in international relations.
Cardinal Virtues in Nature: In the state of nature, "force and fraud" are considered the two cardinal virtues.
Contrast with Traditional Virtues: This directly contrasts with classical cardinal virtues like wisdom, justice, courage, and moderation.
Machiavellian Connection: This concept echoes Machiavelli's idea of virtù, which often involves doing whatever is necessary (including force and fraud) to achieve effectiveness.
No Natural Justice: Because there is no natural society, there is no natural justice. Justice is entirely conventional and created by human agreement.
The state of nature is an "awful situation" where using force and fraud is deemed excellent.
Escaping the State of Nature
Nature as Horrendous: "Mere nature" is described as worthy of contempt, a situation where the life of man is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short," and thus must be escaped, not returned to (contrary to some philosophies like Rousseau's).
Means of Escape: Escape is possible through the use of human passions and reason, which themselves exist by nature.
Only Good in Nature: The only good thing nature contains is the possibility of escaping it through these faculties.
Passions Inclining Men to Peace (Chapter 13, page 106, start of 14):
Fear of Death: The most basic and fundamental passion.
Desire for Commodious Living: A want for comfort and "creature comforts" (commodities). This points to the emergence of a "bourgeois" world focused on a comfortable (not just bare) life, distinct from aspirational ideals of "the good" (e.g., , felicity as a series of small goods).
Hope by Industry to Obtain Them: The desire to acquire these comforts peacefully and legally through one's own efforts, rather than through assault, extortion, or at others' expense. This suggests a "peaceful competition" replacing the "warlike competition" of the state of nature.
Peaceful Competition & Specialization: By removing violent death from the equation, individuals are free to engage in peaceful competition.
Unleashing Power: In the state of nature, natural aptitudes are useless (no cartography, implements, mathematics). In civil society under a sovereign, one can become a physicist, crane operator, lawyer, sales representative, or media personality.
Cooperative Enterprise: This peaceful competition is also cooperative, leading to a collective enterprise that unlocks immense human power within the Leviathan state. This is the power of Hobbes's "political science" (architectonic science) to coordinate human activity.
Reason as Instrument of Passion: Reason is understood as secondary, an instrument of passion. The "sensible passions" (fear and desire for comfort) are rational because they point towards the escape from nature, provided one "listens" to them seriously.
Rights and Laws of Nature (Chapters 14-15)
Introduction of Rights: Chapter introduces "rights of nature," specifically the right to self-preservation and the right to use any means deemed necessary for self-preservation.
Lockean Similarities: This echoes Locke's state of nature, where one can kill others preemptively to preserve oneself.
Rights vs. Laws: Hobbes sharply distinguishes between rights and laws:
Rights: Things we take for ourselves.
Laws: Obligations we owe to others.
First and Second Laws of Nature (Chapter 14):
First Law: To seek peace by laying down our right to use any means for self-preservation (i.e., not taking the law into our own hands).
Second Law: To make a covenant or contract in order to seek peace, creating a sovereign authority (a common power) to ensure order, which is absent in the anarchic state of nature.
Morality and Justice in Hobbes
Laws of Nature as Morality: The laws of nature are identical with morality itself, guiding all aspects of life, not just political dealings. Hobbes aims to provide a complete teaching for a sensible human being.
Replacing Old Philosophers: Hobbes seeks to replace and surpass the moral philosophies of Aristotle (e.g., Ethics), Thomas Aquinas, and even reinterpret the Bible, placing his own moral philosophy at the center of the proposed curriculum (Chapter ).
Underlying Principle of Morality: The fundamental principle of all morality for Hobbes is self-preservation. More euphemistically, it's about achieving one's goals; less euphemistically, it's driven by fear.
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