Machiavelli and Hobbes

Europe in the 1500s and 1600s

Lecture Overview

  • Title: Europe in the 1500s and 1600s Between Machiavelli and Hobbes

  • Lecturer: Dr. Clare Talwalker

  • Context: This presentation accompanies but does not summarize the lecture.

Key Themes and Topics

  • 16th and 17th Century Europe

    • Exploration and trade

    • European merchants engaged in overseas travel seeking goods.

    • Machiavelli and Hobbes

    • Focus on power struggles.

    • Historical Context of Hobbes

    • Relation to the English Civil War (1642-1649).

    • Hobbes' interest in the State of Nature as a founding assumption of liberal thought.

The End of Self-Sufficiency

Transition in Trade Dynamics

  • Introduction of Black Pepper

    • Description: Black pepper plants wrapping around trees in Kerala, South India.

  • Ibn Battuta's Voyages

    • Moroccan scholar from the early 1300s.

    • Traced traders on their routes, highlighting the Islamicate world before the dominance of Hindu and Buddhist cultures.

  • European Armed Trade

    • Europeans introduced armed conflict in Mediterranean trade to gain entry into global trade routes.

    • Noted by historian Robert Marks.

Maritime Exploration

Famous Voyages

  • Zheng He's Treasure Ship

    • Size: 400 feet long.

    • Purpose: Led seven sea voyages, including rounding the Cape of Good Hope and navigating up the West African coast; concluded in 1435.

  • Columbus' St. Maria

    • Size: 85 feet long.

Machiavelli and Hobbes

Political Counsel and Power Struggles

  • Hobbes’ Focus on Mercantile Activity

    • More attention paid to the economic aspects of governance.

  • Centralization of England

    • England saw relative centralization since the 1060s.

    • Important historical documents:

    • Magna Carta (1215).

  • Violence Between Monarch and Nobles

    • Hobbes expressed concern over potential outbreaks of violence due to power struggles.

  • Religious Debates

    • Hobbes engaged in debates regarding the monarch's power and status.

    • Contrast: Machiavelli dismissed such debates as inconsequential.

Time Frame

  • Early 1500s: Italy

  • Mid-1600s: England

The English Civil War (1642-1649)

Context and Key Events

  • Execution of Charles I

    • Date: 1649, marked the end of the English Civil War.

  • Major Issues

    1. Raising Taxes for Wars

    2. Conflicts Between Catholics and Reformers

  • Lineage of Charles I

    • Son of James I.

    • Grandson of Mary, Queen of Scots (Catholic), executed by Elizabeth I (Protestant).

  • Interregnum Period

    • Years: 1649-1660.

  • Hobbes and Politics

    • 1642: Published On the Citizen.

    • 1629: Charles I dissolved Parliament.

    • Chapter 19: Discusses the “right of succession” in Hobbes’ writing.

English Civil Society

Theoretical Perspectives

  • Key Figures

    • Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

    • John Locke (1632-1704)

  • Debates on Power

    • The role of the monarch versus the power of the English parliament.

  • 17th Century “Civil Philosophy”

    • A philosophy that considers the concept of “civil society”.

    • Emergence of spaces that gained wealth and influence outside the traditional monarchical regulation.

Hobbes' State of Nature

Philosophical Influences

  • Eternal Laws of Nature

    • Hobbes proposed a theory contrary to Aristotle.

    • For Aristotle, natural law and political law were not eternal and subject to change.

  • Human Equality

    • Hobbes stated: “All men are equal to each other by nature. Our actual inequality has been introduced by civil law.”

  • Human Conflict

    • Hobbes described human interactions, stating:

    • “[Men are] so divided… By differences of purpose and policy or by envy and rivalry … that they will refuse to help each other or to keep peace among themselves, unless compelled to do so by a common fear.”

  • Rights in the Natural State

    • Stated:

    • “In the purely natural state, if you wish to kill, you have the right to do so on the basis of the natural state itself… But in the civil state, where the right of life and death and of all corporal punishment are the responsibility of the commonwealth, this very right of killing cannot be allowed to a private person.”

    • Reference: Liberty (page 40).

Historical Context of Hobbes' Work

  • Hobbes' interest in the State of Nature is a founding assumption of liberal thought.

  • Relation to the English Civil War (1642-1649):

    • Execution of Charles I in 1649, marking the end of the English Civil War.

    • Major issues included raising taxes for wars and conflicts between Catholics and Reformers.

    • Charles I, son of James I and grandson of Mary, Queen of Scots, dissolved Parliament in 1629.

  • Hobbes published On the Citizen in 1642.

  • Expressed concern over potential outbreaks of violence between monarch and nobles due to power struggles.

  • Engaged in debates regarding the monarch's power and status, unlike Machiavelli who dismissed such debates.

Views on Human Nature

  • Human Equality: Hobbes stated: “All men are equal to each other by nature. Our actual inequality has been introduced by civil law.”

  • Human Conflict: Hobbes described human interactions: “[Men are] so divided… By differences of purpose and policy or by envy and rivalry … that they will refuse to help each other or to keep peace among themselves, unless compelled to do so by a common fear.”

The State of Nature

  • Hobbes proposed a theory contrary to Aristotle; for Aristotle, natural law and political law were not eternal and subject to change.

  • Rights in the Natural State: Hobbes stated: “In the purely natural state, if you wish to kill, you have the right to do so on the basis of the natural state itself…” (Reference: Liberty, page 40).

The Nature/Role of the State/Sovereignty

  • In the civil state, the commonwealth holds the “right of life and death and of all corporal punishment.”

  • The right of killing is not allowed to a private person in the civil state.

  • The state's role is to compel individuals to keep peace through a “common fear,” preventing conflict stemming from human differences.

Views of Society/Social Groups

  • The 17th century saw the emergence of “civil philosophy” and the concept of “civil society.”

  • Spaces emerged that gained wealth and influence outside the traditional monarchical regulation.

Interdependency vs. Self-Sufficiency

  • The period marked “The End of Self-Sufficiency” due to changing trade dynamics.

  • European merchants engaged in overseas travel seeking goods, fostering interdependency.

  • European armed trade, noted by Robert Marks, introduced conflict to gain entry into global trade routes, further emphasizing global interdependency.

Pre-market vs. Market Exchange

  • Hobbes' focus on “mercantile activity” indicates attention to economic aspects of governance, implying market exchange.

  • European exploration and trade for goods like black pepper were key drivers of this exchange.

Self-Interest vs. The Public Good/The Common Good/Views of Justice

  • Human conflict characterized by “envy and rivalry” suggests self-interest as a primary motivator in the natural state.

  • Justice, as well as actual inequality, is “introduced by civil law,” implying that the civil state defines and enforces justice for the common good by restricting natural liberties.

  • Peace is kept only when compelled by a “common fear,” indicating that individual self-interest needs external regulation for public order.

Freedom/Liberty

  • In the natural state, individuals possess the right to kill based on natural law.

  • However, in the civil state, this right “cannot be allowed to a private person,” signifying a curtailment of absolute liberty for the sake of societal order and protection.

Property/Wealth Acquisition

  • Hobbes paid more attention to the economic aspects of governance, including “mercantile activity.”

  • The emergence of spaces that accumulated wealth and influence outside of traditional monarchical control suggests evolving mechanisms for wealth acquisition.

Poverty and Wealth, or Equality/Inequality

  • Hobbes posited that “All men are equal to each other by nature,” and that “Our actual inequality has been introduced by civil law.” This implies that socio-economic divisions like poverty and wealth, or inequality, are products of civil society rather than inherent natural conditions.

Redistribution/Taxation/Government Spending

  • “Raising Taxes for Wars” was a significant cause of the English Civil War, highlighting the state's role in collecting revenue for expenditures like military campaigns.

Markets, Money, Value, and Prices

  • Hobbes' focus on “mercantile activity” and the extensive European trade in goods like black pepper suggest the operation of markets, although the specific concepts of money, value, and prices are not explicitly detailed in the notes. Markets are implied as the mechanism for goods exchange.