Lecture 2 - Thomas Hobbes PDF

Click to edit Master title style SFV102: Introduction to philosophical ideas II Lecture 2: Thomas Hobbes 1 Click to edit Master title style Today’s lecture: The Renaissance a...

Click to edit Master title style SFV102: Introduction to philosophical ideas II Lecture 2: Thomas Hobbes 1 Click to edit Master title style Today’s lecture: The Renaissance and the Age of Reason Thomas Hobbes Hobbes’s Philosophical Project State of Nature The State of Nature is the State of War Laws of Nature Establishing a Sovereign Authority Absolutism Hobbes on Religion Hobbes on the Individual and freedom Q &A 2 2  ❖ Period from around the 14th to the 17th century CE Click to edit Master title style A period of sudden intellectual, political, social, and artistic upheavals in Europe. Transition from a medieval, theologically centered worldview to a modern, scientific one. THE Abandonment of the rigid feudal system and Catholic teachings. RENAISSANCE Emphasis in literature, art, and science. Philosophy shifted from a relationship between God and the world, to a AND THE AGE relationship between the human mind and the rest of nature. The Renaissance ignited a profound transformation in how OF REASON humanity perceived its place in the universe. The pursuit of knowledge and freedom of thought ushered in a time of radical change. Renaissance spirt: A spirit of curiosity and exploration in all facets of life Scientific awakening with the Copernican revolution. Nicolaus Copernicus challenged the geocentric view and positioned the Sun at the center of the cosmos. Niccolo Machiavelli is one of the most prominent renaissance philosophers, and marked a definitive movement from the theological to modern political thought. 3 3 Click to edit Master title style THOMAS HOBBES 17th century English philosopher Orphaned at infancy, Hobbes was taken in by his wealthy uncle who offered him a good education. Graduated from Oxford University, after which he worked as the tutor of the son of the Earl of Devonshire. As a tutor, Hobbes had the opportunity to meet and engage with figures like Galileo Galilei, Marin Mersenne, Pierre Gassendi, and Rene Descartes. In 1640, he sought refuged in France to escape the English Civil War. He is a prominent figure in political philosophy. His seminal work “Leviathan” is highly regarded and considered on par with the works of other influential philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Kant, etc. Hobbes is renowned for his “social contract theory”, in which he explores the relationship between society and individuals. 4 4 Click to edit Master title style HOBBES’s PHILOSOPHICAL PROJECT ❖ Having lived during a time of great political unrest, Hobbes sought to find rational principles for creating a stable society that would address the problems of human nature and its implications f o r s o c i e t y. ❖ D u e t o t h e p o l i t i c a l c l i m a t e , h e c o n c l u d e d t h a t e v e n t h e h a r s h e s t g o v e r n m e n t i s b e t t e r t h a n w a r. ❖ H o b b e s b e l i e v e d t h a t all g o v e r n m e n t s e x c e p t for a b s o l u t e g o v e r n m e n t are p r o n e t o dissolution a n d civil war. ❖ Thus, p e o p l e o u g h t t o w i l l i n g l y s u b m i t t h e m s e l ve s t o a n a b s o l u t e p o l i t i c a l authority for the sake of maintaining peace and security. ❖ In a d d i t i o n , sub jects s h o u l d n o t d i s p u t e t h e sovereign p o w e r a n d u n d e r n o c i r c u m s t a n c e s s h o u l d they rebel. ❖ Essentially, his philosophical project aimed to establish the legitimacy of absolute monarchy as the most effective government capable of preventing the chaos and violence inherent in human nature. 5 5 ClickSTATE to editOF NATURE Master title style STATE OF NATURE: Hobbes envisioned a hypothetical condition without any form of government, where each person is free to act as they please. No laws except for those that individuals create for themselves. He described such a state as a “dissolute condition of masterless men, without subjection to laws, and a coercive power to tye their hands from rapine, and revenge”. In essence, it would be a lawless and chaotic environment. Hobbes argued that without a governing authority, individual’s lives and property would be at risk. Thus, fundamental security is necessary for a comfortable, sociable, and civilized life. THE NEED FOR A SOCIAL CONTRACT: To escape the chaos and dangers of the state of nature, Hobbes proposed the idea of a social contract. In this contract, people would voluntarily surrender some freedoms and create a governing authority to establish laws and maintain order. This will provide individuals the security needed for a stable and harmonious society. 6 6  Click to edit Master title style Discussion point: ❖ Could society function peacefully and effectively without restrictions and laws? Why or why not? ❖ How might life be different if there were no laws? 7 7 Click to edit Master title style “. “Hereby it is manifest that 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 is of every man against every man... 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.” - Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan, Book 1, chapter 13 8 8 ClickSTATE THE to editOF Master NATURE title style Hobbes' state of nature is based on a number of reasonable empirical normative assumptions: 1. People are sufficiently similar in their mental and physical attributes that no one is invulnerable nor can expect to be able to dominate the others. 2. People generally “ shun death” , and have a strong desire to preserve their own lives to avoid death. 3. They have limited benevolence and have a tendency for partiality. 4. Individuals are sensitive to perceived offenses and slights. 5. They make evaluative judgment and use impersonal terms like “ good” and “bad” , rather than relying on their personal preferences. 6. These characteristics may lead people to adopt religious beliefs in certain situations. NORMATIVE ASSUMPTION: Each person in the state of nature has “the right to evil nature” – a liberty right to self preservation. This is the right to do whatever one needs to preserve their own life. 9 9  Click to edit Master title style The state of nature is the state of war In a situation where there is no common authority to resolve many and serious disputes, the state of nature would become a “ state of war, ” even worse, a war of "all against all." The state of war is characterized by constant competition and conflict. WHY? There is no constraints on human behavior and individuals are in a perpetual struggle for survival, and dominance. Individuals would have equal access to all things. The absence of a central authority would cause a lack of trust among individuals, which could fuel preemptive actions. People would prioritise their survival, which would result in aggression towards others. 1010  LAWS OF NATURE Click to edit Master title style For Hobbes, the state of nature is a miserable condition of constant war, where none of our essential human ends are reliably acknowledged and met. Luckily, there is a way to escape the state of nature. Hobbes argues that: 1. As rational being, we can recognize that a war of “all against all” is harmful to our interests, so we can agree that “peace is good, and therefore the way or means of peace are good”. 2. Humans can recognise that seeking peace is essential and will do what is necessary to secure it, as long as they can do it safely. These imperatives are called “Laws of nature”: ❖ The laws sum up treating others as we would want to be treated. ❖ The laws guide people to submit to political authority. ❖ The laws urge people to seek peace by relinquishing part of their “right to all things”, by mutually agreeing to submit to the authority of a sovereign , and further direct us to keep that agreement in establishing sovereignty. 1111 Click to edit Master title style ESTABLISHING A SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY There are two legitimate ways of establishing a sovereign authority: Sovereignty by Institution: People agree mutually to obey a common authority through a covenant. Sovereignty by Acquisition: When, threatened by a conqueror, people promise obedience in exchange for protection. The underlying motivations for these ways is fear. The social covenant involves giving up certain rights and authorising the sovereign power. Political legitimacy depends not on how a government came to power, but only on the government’s ability to effectively protect those who have consented to obey it. Political obligation ended when protection ceases. 12 12 Click to edit Master title style ABSOLUTISM For any government to be effective, regardless of its form, it must have absolute authority. Absolute authority means that the government has complete control and decision- making power without limitations imposed by other institutions or individuals. Only a government that possesses all the ‘essential rights of sovereignty” can be reliably effective, as disagreements among different bodies with partial rights can lead to government paralysis of civil war. To impose limitation on the authority of the government is to invite irresoluble disputes over whether it has overstepped those limits. To avoid the dreadful prospect of governmental collapse and return to the state of nature, people should treat their sovereign as having absolute authority. 13 13 Click to edit Master title style With Hobbes’ proclivity towards absolutism, it should come as no surprise that he did not approve of the significant influence wielded by the church at the time. He strongly advocated for the separation of religious and state HOBBES powers, as he believed the church’s influence interfered with the state’s activities. He suggested that the church should, at most, act as a ON functionary or department of the state, rather than exerting significant independent authority. According to Hobbes, the church was not essential for the RELIGION functioning of the commonwealth. Instead, it relied on the state for its safety and not the other way around. According to Ebenstein, “Hobbes saw religions and churches [as] the most serious danger of civil disobedience and disunity, and in conflict of secular and divine commandments the most frequent pretext of sedition and civil war” (2000:358) 14 14  Click to edit HOBBES ON THE Master INDIVIDUAL title style “Nature has made men so equal in the faculties of the body and mind, as that though there be found one m a n sometimes manifestly in stronger in body, or of quicker mind than another, yet when all is reckoned, the difference between men is not so considerable, as that one m a n can thereupon claim to himself any benefit to which another m a n may not pretend as well as he” (Hobbes in E b e n s t e i n 2000: 364). ❖ For their time, these are remarkably progressive sentiments about the equality of individual. Remember, that at this point the social stratifications and attendant inequalities of feudal systems were commonplace and largely taken for granted. ❖ Hobbes’s assertion of human equality (and the related assertion that humans have an equal claim to resources) may be seen as groundbreaking concepts in feudal Europe, where class hierarchies were firmly established. His assertion questioned the legitimacy of the hierarchical social order. ❖ However, Hobbes viewed this inherent equality among people as a source of perpetual strife. The quest for resources, glory, and personal security led to conflicts and competition among others. 1515 Click to edit Master title style Hobbes believed that humans have no inborn course to morals and are inherently greedy and violent, but may be redeemed by reason (or fear). For this reason there is a need for a social contract between individuals in society, by which liberties are ceded in the interest of maintaining one’s property and safety. Without such a contract, peaceful social life would be impossible and we would exist in a state of nature condition of war of all against all in which life would be brutal and short. Given this essential pessimism regarding the human condition, Hobbes believed that individuals cannot be IN SUMMARY expected to indefinitely comply with the social contract, and there is therefore a need for a supreme ruler (not themselves party to the contract) to enforce its conditions and punish those who default. In order to live peacefully, individuals must cede certain liberties to the sovereign in exchange for their protection. The union of individuals in terms of the social contract, under sovereign rule constitutes the state. Inventions by bodies such as the church (which challenge state power) are discouraged. 16 16 Click to edit Master title style JOHN LOCKE Tabula rasa and free will Natural rights and NEXT WEEK: limited government Private property and labour theory value Religious toleration and freedom of conscience 17 17 Click to edit Master title Hobbes", style Duncan, Stewart, "Thomas The Stanford E n c yc l o p e d i a of Philosophy (Fall 2021 Edition), E d w a r d N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming URL =