Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Major Works

1. Leviathan

2. Behemoth

Leviathan

• archaic English word; means “whale” or “sea monster” in some Jewish Scripture or the story of Jonah

• Hobbes uses it to symbolise bigness

• artificial man who stands for concept of sovereignty

  • sceptre in left hand represents the right to rule/make laws

  • sword in right hand represents the power to rule/ enforce those laws

  • the sovereign is made up of all people of the city; power of the sovereign is the power of the people

  • intersubjective reality; if enough people believe something, that thing becomes reality

  • e.g. in America there are three separate branches of govt; presidential, executive and legislative but the final say lies with the Supreme Court

• in the middle ages Europe didn’t have sovereignty;

  • conflicts between Dukes, Kings and Popes

  • the roman empire, umayyad and abbasid caliphates, persian empire, athens etc. were sovereign

  • they had control over territory and some process for making final decisions

• most countries today are sovereign; due to the clear set of rules

  • exceptions are places with civil war like Somalia or South Sudan

  • conflicts between countries happen because there’s no world sovereign (UN doesn’t count)

Arguments of Leviathan

• Hobbes has the most complex arguments of all the philosophers;

  • he wants to justify sovereignty and justify monarchy

• Leviathan argues a single ruler at the top is the best form of rule;

  • if you live in a sovereign state, you must follow those rules and you are better off living in a state with a sovereign

  • someone who is delegated authority has no sovereignty of their own

State of Nature 

• defined as the absence of sovereignty (what we usually called anarchy);

  • Hobbes contrasts two extremes to strengthen his argument

  • yet chiefs of tribal groups and most places in western Europe during middle ages lived in this continuum;

  • they had multiple or overlapping authorities

• SoN and idea of “natural man” now widely understood as a misnomer;

• they thought native peoples grew up like savages who didn’t socialise each other/live in civil society

• but even humans living in non-sovereign societies undergo socialisation; premise can be disregarded

In what sense are they equal?

• Hobbes states that everyone is equal in the state of nature;

  • beginning of the egalitarian plateau (relatively new concept) in modern political theory

    • what makes Hobbes and Machiavelli more modern

    • modern philosophical debates start with the premise that everyone is equal;

    • acknowledgment of basic human equality

  • premise of natural equality can then be used to justify other inequalities; e.g. income, wealth, property

• Hobbes did NOT say everyone wants power (harmful take on Hobbes)

• He says we are all equally able to kill each other

  • we are all ABLE to kill each other (with cunning, banding together, overpowering others) and we are all vulnerable

Hobbes’ Definition of Justice

• his definition puts him at odds with all philosophers and religious people before and most after him

  • (popular among the social contract tradition)

• Justice is following an agreed upon contract; injustice is breaking it

  • contracts do not exist in the state of nature;

    • no rules to bind or enforce them

    • no authority means breaking contracts has no consequences

  • thus, there is no concept of justice or injustice; everyone has the right to do anything

Five theories of where morality comes from

1. it comes from God

2. it comes from virtue

3. it comes from simply right and wrong

4. it comes from consequences of how much good/harm it causes

5. it comes from fulfilling a social contract

“During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war, as is of every man against every man”

• elements of veneer theory

• in certain situations, people will be driven to do bad things

3 reasons conflicts appear in the state of nature:

o   Gain (competition) e.g. other people want your things

o   Fear, safety (diffidence) e.g. preemptive strives

o   Reputation (glory) e.g. empires attacking small states

• Hobbes argues that an absence of sovereignty leads to war of men against all; this is what a state of nature could be

“in such a condition, there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; … no knowledge of the earth; no account of time; no arts no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

o   “…solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”

Hobbes gives two examples of when we live in a state of war;

• English civil war which he lived through

• supposed American indigenous “savages”

Three common excuses for European colonialism

1. Racism; biological superiority

2. Christians; non-believers are bad people

3. Superior institutions; same people underneath but their absence of institutions makes them savages

 Laws of Nature

• for most philosophers, concept of natural law is a moral law; but for Hobbes…

• “A law of nature is…a general rule, found out by reason, by which a man is forbidden to do that which is destructive of his life.”

  • law of prudence not morality; emphasises self-preservation

  • trying to ask why you should be moral

What would you do in the middle of a war of all against all?

• hiding is only short-term; someone else may try to take your spot from you

• alliances are unstable; betrayal could always happen

• we would be driven to kill or be killed

o  Thus, Hobbe’s first law of nature is to “Seek Peace and follow it” (look for a way out of the SoN)

o  Second law of nature is to “Seek an agreement to obtain peace”

• “That a man be willing, when others are so too, as far forth as for peace and defence of himself he shall think it necessary, to lay down this right to all things; and be contented with so much liberty against other men as he would allow other men against himself."

o   (in the absence of authority) the laws of nature are contrary to [human] nature

• there must be a structure enforcing cooperation

• “every man should say to every man: I authorise and give up my right of governing myself to this man, or to this assembly of men, on this condition; that thou give up, thy right to him, and authorise all his actions in like manner.”

  • start of contract which creates sovereignty

  • story about creation of the first state is illustrative not literal; Hume got this wrong too

  • Hobbes says so himself:

    • “There is scarce of commonwealth in the world whose beginnings can in conscience be justified.”

The agreement to laying down rights is voluntary and a contract;

• the agreement creates “sovereignty”

• since human nature creates the SoN, we obey the sovereign to escape it;

• fear of the SoN is so great we consent to the state

• “Covenants entered into by fear in the condition of mere nature are obligatory”

Rights of the sovereign

o   Remains in the state of nature

o   Retains all the rights of a person in the state of nature

o   No authority can punish him for breaking a contract

• the contract is between people; not the people and the king

• the sovereignty establishes peace; neutralises causes of conflicts in the SoN

• gain can now come from trade

o   This man becomes the sovereign; everyone else becomes his subjects

• we create the government through our agreement and our obedience

• there is no contract without the power to enforce it

• therefore justice and injustice come into existence when sovereignty is established

The powers of the sovereign  

• sovereign makes all laws

• may decide what people believe and read

• may create, give or take away property

• highest judge/ judge of ultimate dispute

• makes war or declares peace

• decides all rewards and punishments

• decides economic systems

You no longer have to obey the sovereign

          1. …if the sovereign commands you to testify against yourself

          2. …if the sovereign intends to kill you

          3. …if the sovereign fails to protect you

Hobbes’ reasoning for these follows that;

• you are not bound by anything that you couldn't honestly promise when you created the state

• once your life is in danger, you completely return to the SoN

• so, you are morally permitted to rebel

Hobbes vs revolution

o   to revolt when your life is not threatened is unjust

• most revolutions start unjust, but eventually reach a threshold of becoming just

• there’s only a sovereign if you’re protected

o   if your life is threatened, you can go S.O.N on anybody

Are you free under the sovereign?

o   possibly in the sense of “negative liberty”

• you don’t decide rules, or have max opportunity to thrive

o   you’re free to do what no rule prohibits as long as the sovereign chooses to leave you alone

• no interference with things you might want to do

 Why is sovereignty absolute?

• any institution with the power to make a final decision + enforce that decision is an absolute power

• thus, every government is absolute

• internally, all govts are absolute

• internationally, they’re at a standoff due to no world sovereign

  • big countries get away with bullying small countries

• God could be the sovereign of the universe

  • depends on His direct intervening while people are alive

King or assembly?

Should the leader be a single person or an elected body?

Either way sovereignty is absolute/unlimited

Should we divide government even if it doesn't make sovereignty any less absolute?

• Should we have separation of powers/ something like democracy

  • Locke says yes

  • Hobbes says no

    • Hobbes argues that divided govts bring in elements of the SoN

    • since everyone has little bits of power conflicts can happen

    • e.g. English Civil War, American Civil War

    • if people fought for power in the SoN, everyone would want to be king; civil wars and wars of succession would happen all the time

  • when one person has all the power, everyone else is clearly weaker and has no way to oppose

• one subversive part of Hobbes;

  • justification of the King’s power is your consent

  • overrides belief that kings were divinely chosen

Hobbes vs Socrates

The Hobbesian Hypothesis

Prehistoric Myths and Modern Political Philosophy by Karl Widerquist and Grant S. McCall

• hypothesis states everyone is better off in the societies we live in than one without a sovereign govt

  • premise is that mutual obligation is in effect; the govt benefits each and every last person living under its rule

  • Hobbes uses it to justify the state

  • Locke uses it to justify certain kinds of states + to justify the private property rights system

• but in anthropology, there are many people who live without a sovereign govt, but live decent lives and in peace

  • poorest members of society e.g. the homeless, working-class, exploited migrant workers are worse off than in the SoN

What would Hobbes say about the Arab Uprising of 2009-11?

Hobbes would say “I told you so”

• with rebelling, the risk is not worth the reward

• the prudent would obey regardless of how the ruler is

  • Tunisia ————————> better govt for a while?

  • Libya, Syria & Yemen ——> civil war

  • most other places ———> same or similar govt

• but, successful revolutions have also happened

  • e.g. decolonisation in Africa, Spain and Portugal in the 1970s, Argentina, Chile overthrowing dictators