Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Key text: Leviathan (1651)

Response to English Civil War

Human Nature

-Sceptical view of human nature arguing that it was needy and vulnerable therefore likely to commit destructive acts

-human nature shaped by a restless desire for goods, an immovable distrust of others and constant fear of violent death

-The state of nature in Hobbes view was a place of scarce resource ruled by ruthless self interest

Society

-There was no society before the state (No natural rights as liberals believed)

State

-State of nature= solitary, poor, nasty brutish and short’.

-this natural chaos stemmed from the absence of any formal authority which could enforce an unquestioned code of right and wrong.

-with each mans version of right and wrong likely to be different a state of nature would only lead to uncertainty and war.

-believed in a contract where individuals would render to a ‘sovereign’ the right to make laws by which all were restrained and thus allow the sort of order and security absent in the state of nature

-the state must be autocratic (absolute power found by the ruler) in order to prevent conflicts

Economy

-Constructive and long lasting economic activity is impossible without a state guaranteeing order and security

In summary state creates order and security and there is no civil society without the state and an effective state must be autocratic, intimidating and forbidding.