1651HOBBES AND THE LEVIATHAN

How is social order possible?Foundation of Western political philosophy, social contract

theory, right of the individual.Materialism: human beings composed of matter and motion,

obeying physical law.

HOBBES’ QUESTION

People have the capacity to reason They weigh the costs and benefits They consider the consequences of their actions

HOBBES’ ASSUMPTIONS

People are self-interested They seek to attain what they desire

Security (avoid death and injury) Reputation (status) Gain (possessions)

HOBBES’ ASSUMPTIONS, CONT’D

Their ability to attain what they desire depends on their power Because men want a happy life, they seek sufficient power to ensure

that life All men have a “restless desire for power”

ASSUMPTIONS, CONT’D

Hobbes’ approach: a theory of political obligation grounded in human rationality When is it rational for us as self-interested individuals to obey a

ruler? When are we obliged to do so?

HOBBES: NEW APPROACHES TO AN OLD PROBLEM

Hobbes’ solution: we must learn to recognize that our obligations to obey the sovereign are rationally justified, and hence to respect the sovereign power “Internal” focus Assumes people are not educable Assumes a certain amount of rationality and self-interest

HOBBES: NEW APPROACHES TO AN OLD PROBLEM

What is our natural condition? Are people naturally equal? Aristotle: No, some are masters and some are slaves according to

the degree of rationality Christian philosophy: yes, they are all equal in that all have an

immortal soul Hobbes: yes, they are all equal in one important respect: equality

to kill

THE STATE OF NATURE

People are insecure, and live in a constant fear of injury and death

There is no place for industry, because the fruit of it is uncertain

Hence, no agriculture, navigation, building, culture, science

Life is short and unpleasant

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ‘STATE OF NATURE’

Everyone is strong enough to kill the strongestEveryone thinks him/herself above average in practical

intellectual ability (prudence)But prudence is merely experienceErgo, there are no natural distinctions distinguishing masters

from slaves, or rulers from ruled

EQUALITY

What is our most important natural desire? Aristotle: the desire to have a good life Hobbes: the desire to avoid violent death

THE STATE OF NATURE

Do our most important natural desires lead to social integration or disintegration? Aristotle: our important natural desires lead to the creation of

small communities and then to larger communities. We need and desire to be with others.

Hobbes: our important natural desires lead to social disintegration, given our natural equality in the ability to kill or be killed.

THE STATE OF NATURE

Are our most important desires naturally integrative or disintegrative?

THE STATE OF NATURE

Natural causes of conflict: Distrust: I do not trust you not to kill me, so I try to kill you first Love of gain (a natural desire): I know myself equal to you, and I

want your things Love of glory (a natural desire): I think myself (erroneously) better

than you are, and think I deserve reparation

THE STATE OF NATURE

Trust and cooperate

Do not trust, attack

Trust and cooperate

We gain from cooperating: arts, sciences, etc.

One of us gets killed, the other lives and takes your property

Do not trust, attack

One of us gets killed, the other lives and takes your property

One or both of us may get killed

THE STATE OF NATURE

“In such 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 instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face 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.” (Chapter 13)

THE STATE OF NATURE

Is there a right to self-preservation? How far does it extend? “even to one another’s bodies” in the state of nature

The justification of this right comes from the universal interest in preserving yourself

RIGHTS

Because everyone has the same right to everything, there can be no justice or injustice in the state of nature

Justice is a human construction that we have to make possible

RIGHTS AND JUSTICE

Is Hobbes right? Are there any places in the state of nature today?

RIGHTS AND JUSTICE

There is an empirical problem: states actually existThe problem is not only empirical but also normative: are we

obligated to obey existing states?We can only appeal to what is rational for us to do, not to God

or some other agency

ESCAPING THE STATE OF NATURE: THE PROBLEM

Could the problem be solved through the prospect of future cooperation? The stakes are always too high; death prevents future cooperation Repeated cooperation does not solve the problem of how we

come to have obligations to the state

HOW DO WE ESCAPE THE STATE OF NATURE?

Hobbes’ solution: we all together transfer (most of) our right to everything to a specific person to act in our name to preserve ourselves

This person is then authorized (we are its “authors”) to use all means necessary to preserve the peace (to use “us”)

THE SOVEREIGN

THE SOVEREIGN

Why is this a solution? The sovereign has enough power (all of us) to prevent attacks by

any of us individually

THE SOVEREIGN

Why is this a solution? With the sovereign in place, what can be reasonably expected of

others shifts: we can now expect that they will not attack us, so we can now speak of justice and injustice

THE SOVEREIGN

Why is this a solution? The act of transferring our right to everything to the sovereign

creates a presumptive obligation to obey the sovereign

THE SOVEREIGN

The Sovereign is an artificial person It can be a single natural person (a monarch) Or a collection of people that can act in a unified way (an

assembly)

THE SOVEREIGN

For Hobbes, the most important thing is that there be a sovereign, not so much the form it takes

For Aristotle, the more important question is the form of government

SOVEREIGNTY AND POLITICAL REGIMES

For Aristotle, the purpose of politics is to realize man’s highest good The best regime most fully realizes the highest good, but other

regimes also realize it to a smaller extentFor Hobbes, the purpose of politics is to avoid the worst of

evils Any regime avoids the worst of evils (war)

POLITICS

Hobbes wants to remind us that our obligations to obey the state are rationally justified They are obligations (i.e., they apply generally) They are in accord with our self-interest, and in

particular with our interest in avoiding violent death

Conflict arises ultimately from error and irrationality, but it does not require extensive education to solve it

Focuses on the internal problem of conflict, leaving the external problem unresolved

HOBBES’ APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF CONFLICT