Philosophy: State of Nature Quiz

State of Nature

• In the state of nature, everyone has the right to enforce the law of nature and punish those who violate it.
• This right is essential to prevent violations and maintain order since no formal government exists in this state.
• The right to punish is only for reparation or restraint.
• Punishment in the state of nature is not arbitrary but should be proportional to the crime, aiming for justice, reparation, and deterrence.
• If it is in the public good to not punish, do not punish.
• Even in punishing offenders, individuals have no arbitrary power; they must act within the bounds of reason and equity.

Challenges of the State of Nature

• Critics argue that self-judgment leads to bias and disorder.
• Locke acknowledges this but counters that even monarchs face the same issue when they judge their own actions.
• He contends that government arises to mitigate the inconveniences of self-judgment, but the state of nature can be preferable to absolute monarchy because monarchy makes men required to submit to the unjust will of another.

Existence of the State of Nature

• Locke argues that the state of nature exists among all independent governments and individuals who have not consented to join a political society.
• All men are naturally in that state, and remain so, till by their own consents they make themselves members of some politic society.

Formation of Political Society

• People remain in the state of nature until they consent to form a political society.
• This societal agreement ends the state of nature for those individuals.
• Men can not be the judge in their own cases.
• Men are NOT IMPARTIAL and will choose themselves (also making them punish too harshly bc of emotions).
• Government restrains this violence and partiality of man.

Hobbes' View of Human Behavior

• Hobbes focuses on human behavior.
• Humans are driven by motion.
• Two types of motion: vital and voluntary.
• Voluntary (requires choice): driven by our intentions (which are subjective), our appetites, and aversions.
• All humans fear death.
• Four characteristics of appetites and aversions:
  • Some are innate, like food and water, the rest are born of experience.
  • Appetites continually change and are different in different people.
  • These appetites are incessant, they do not end until death.
  • Appetites are of different strengths in different men.

Hobbes' Views on Opinions and the Science of Peace

• Opinions are purely subjective – there is no way to judge if someone’s opinion is more right than another.
• The science of peace for Hobbes is deciding how humans behave w/o gov and what leads people to behave the way they do based on appetites and aversions.

The Natural Condition of Mankind

• All men have equal ability to get what they want.
• They seek power after power and they are equal.
• This leads to a state of war when they want the same thing.

Man's Natural State: A State of War

• "Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short"
• Two factors that lead to the formation of government:
  • Fear of death.
  • The universal ability to reason.
• "Where every man is enemy to every man…that life will be quite bad..First, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory.”
• During a time without a common power, people - in a state of nature - are in WAR and all men are against each other.
• All other time is PEACE.
• During a state of war, there is no security and no place for industry, no arts, no commodities, no society, no account of time.
• When taking a journey, man arms himself but no one blames other people for using passions to attack bc it is human nature.
• Men take harsh actions driven by passion until the law forbids such actions. You can only create laws if you agree on a leader / lawmaker.

Hobbes Views on Contracts

• A contract can be indicated through various actions, including words, silence, actions, or refraining from action.
• Justice requires a commonwealth.
• Justice and property do not exist without a commonwealth or civil power.
• Valid covenants require the establishment of civil power.
• "The fool" believes covenants are only valid when they benefit oneself.
• Hobbes argues that breaking covenants leads to destruction because society cannot function without trust.
• Justice, defined as keeping covenants, aligns with the law of nature, which is to avoid actions that lead to destruction.
• Gratitude is essential for society to function, as it encourages benevolence and mutual help.
• Pardon is another law of nature, essential for peace.
• Revenge should only be for correction and not for glory.
• Natural equality must be acknowledged for peace.
• Equity in distribution and judgment is crucial to avoid war.

Impartiality in Judgement

• "No man is a fit arbitrator in his own cause" because self-interest biases judgment. Even if a person were fit to judge their own case, the principle of equity demands both parties should judge, leading to ongoing conflict.