Hobbes 1/14

When to choose

  • Hypothetical, idealized, circumstances

How to choose

  • Rational criteria for choice

  • What is rationality?

What to choose

  • Principles, institutions, government that would be chosen

 

State of Nature- How to Choose

Highest good

  • No government, all informal (how would life be if there were no government)

  • "there is no such finis ultimus (utmost aim), nor summum bonum (greatest good)"

    • Everyone wants to be happy

    • What makes individuals happy (everyone has their own thing that makes them happy)

  • "the object of man's desire is not to enjoy once only, & for one instant of time; but to assure forever the way of his future desire"

    • Not everyone has the same wants/goals

    • We're going to have things in the future we don't have now (goals) (we don't know those things)

  • Equality of Ability

    • Roughly as strong & smart as each other

    • Collectively be stronger/smarter (gaps are there, but compensation exists)

  • Equality of Hope

    • All of us can hope we will succeed

    • Some are natural followers/leaders (Hobbes says we can form goals & hopes)

    • Can achieve a lot of things regardless of realistic chances

  • "a war of every man against every man"

  • And the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, & short"

How to choose

  • Rights

    • "RIGHT, consists in liberty to do, or to forbear"

      • To do something or not to do it (make a choice)

      • Having the liberty to choose to live (no one can take that away)

    • LIBERTY = "the absence of external impediments"

      • No one is stopping you (they have to not interfere with you) (external impediments=lack of freedom=negative conception of liberty)

    • RIGHT OF NATURE = liberty of self-preservation

      • Inherent

      • I am free do to what I need to do to survive

      • No one can get in the way of me succeeding (no one is obligated to provide)

  • A law of nature:

    • "A law of nature is a precent, or general rule, found out by reason, by which a man is forbidden to do, that, which is destructive of his life, or takes away the means of preserving the same; and to omit, that, by which he thinks it may be preserved"

      • We are allowed to do what we need to do to survive

      • We are not supposed to do self-destructive things (rational)

      • We have different goals but we all care about self-preservation

    • In the state of nature, "every man has a right to every thing; even to one another's body"

    • "that every man, ought to endeavor peace, as far as he hope of obtaining it…"

      • Do what you feel doesn’t matter how it effects everyone else

      • Try not to get into a situation where someone can do harm/consequences to you

    • "…and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek, & use, all helps, & advantages of war"

      • Seek peace, avoid war

      • Prepare for war, some may not be willing to seek peace

      • No one has an incentive to seek peace

    1. "To seek Peace, & follow it."

    2. "By all means we can, to defend our selves."

    3. "Be contented with so much liberty against other men, as he would allow other men against himself."

      1. Am I going to insist that I do something, so someone else can do it to me (be willing to have the same thing done to me/Golden Rule)

      2. Ex. If I want to punch someone, will I let someone else do that to me

    4. "That Men Perform Their Covenants Made."

      1. How do we get from the nash equilibrium and get our second choice

      2. Each of us have an incentive to cheat, only works if we can count on each other to keep our promises (I won't attack if you don't attack)

  • Our country is founded on a social contract

    • Not a normal case, most of the time a government is forced


What to Choose

Conflict among Gangs

  • Competition, envy, hatred, war

Personal Ambition:

  • "Amongst men, there are very many that think themselves wiser and abler to govern the public better than the rest; and these strive to reform and innovate, one this way, another that way; and thereby bring it into distraction and civil war."

Personal Qualities

  • Hobbes: "Man is most troublesome when he is most at ease."

Absolute Power

  • Can't be transferred

  • Disobedience is unjust

  • "Do what you feel?" -> "Do as we say?"