Thomas Hobbes: Politics, Philosophy and Social Contract

Education, Political Philosophy, Public administration, Society, Thomas Hobbes, Western Political thought

Thomas Hobbes, was a 17th-century philosopher who believed that without government, human life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” and argued for a social contract where individuals surrendered some freedoms in exchange for security and order.

Introduction

Thomas Hobbes, born on April 5th, 1588, in England, was a towering figure in English political philosophy. His ideas revolved around themes of peace, order, security, a comfortable life, and the concept of an all-powerful sovereign. In this detailed article, we will explore the life and major works of Thomas Hobbes, as well as delve into his political philosophy, focusing on his views on human nature and the state of nature.

Early Life and Education

Hobbes was a polymath who mastered several languages, including Latin, Greek, French, Italian, and English. He attended Oxford University, although he found the education there to be less than satisfactory. This period of his life laid the groundwork for his future intellectual pursuits.

One of Hobbes’ most significant contributions to political thought was his role as a chief proponent of the Social Contract theory. This theory explores the relationship between individuals and their government and the agreements that bind them together.

Acknowledged by Karl Marx

Karl Marx, a prominent philosopher himself, acknowledged Thomas Hobbes as the “father of all of us,” highlighting the enduring impact of Hobbes’ ideas on subsequent political thought.

Career and Influence

In 1618, Hobbes was recruited as a tutor by the aristocratic family of William Lord Cavendish. Over time, he ascended to the role of Secretary. His close association with the aristocracy influenced his political beliefs, and he became a staunch supporter of Absolute Monarchy and a critic of revolutionary movements. The idea of Absolute Sovereignty for the state was inspired from the Autocratic rule of Machiavelli and the Concept of Sovereignty by Jean Bodin.

Opposition to the English Civil War

Hobbes strongly condemned the English Civil War of 1642, which pitted the Royalists (supporters of King Charles’ absolute power) against the Parliamentarians (champions of parliamentary supremacy). He witnessed the defeat of the Royalists, leading to the execution of Charles I in 1649 at the hands of the Parliamentary Army.

Diverse Writings

Hobbes’ writings spanned both Political Philosophy and Scientific Method. He sought to construct a theory of politics grounded in scientific principles. His interactions with mathematicians such as Gassendi, Descartes, and Galileo further shaped his thoughts, leading him to apply mathematical frameworks to describe physical and political phenomena. Scientific Materialism of Hobbes was classified into: Logical, Scientific and Practical.

Major Works by Thomas Hobbes

Hobbes left a significant intellectual legacy through his major works:

Thucydides’ History of Peloponnesian War (1628): Hobbes’ English translation of this work aimed to critique Athenian democracy. It was his first work.
De Cive “On the Citizens” (1642): Anticipating themes in his later work “Leviathan,” this book discussed natural laws and the necessity of stable government. ‘War of all against All’, the famous phrase first appeared in this book.
Elements of Law, Natural and Politic (1650): An exploration of legal and political concepts.
Leviathan (1651): Considered one of his masterpieces, this work argued for the social contract and the rule of an absolute sovereign. The original source of Leviathan is “The book of Job”.
De Corpore (1655): Explored concepts related to body and matter.
De Homine (1658): Further elaborated on his ideas about human nature.
Behemoth (1681): A comprehensive analysis of the causes of the English Civil War.

Thomas Hobbes’ Political Thoughts

Hobbes’ political philosophy is grounded in his views on human nature and the state of nature.

Human Nature by Hobbes

Hobbes saw humans as inherently selfish, isolated, and egoistic. He believed that individuals pursue their self-interest, seeking pleasure while avoiding pain. Here he gave the concept of “Moral relativism” i.e. anything which pleases. He referred to the continuous fulfillment of desires as “Felicity”. According to Hobbes, humans were driven by two types of voluntary motions: appetite (motion towards something) and aversion (motion away from something). Humans, in his view, were bundles of appetites and aversions. While humans possessed reason, Hobbes argued that no individual’s reason was absolute, emphasizing the need for an arbitrator or judge to resolve disputes.

State of Nature by Hobbes

The state of nature, according to Hobbes, represented human interaction without civil law, state, or political authority. This condition was marked by perpetual struggle, conflict, constant warfare, and total insecurity. In the absence of laws to prevent oppression, individuals were free to take whatever they could from others. Hobbes famously described the state of nature as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” where every person was an enemy to every other. Hobbes quoted, that individual is greedy for power and states that “ individuals have desire for power after power that ceases only in death”. This results in the situation of “war of all against all”. Hence the state of nature is the state of war. This dire state led Hobbes to advocate for the formation of a state, driven by the need for self-preservation and a sense of duty among humans to establish order and security.

Theory of Natural Laws by Hobbes

According to Thomas Hobbes, the Laws of Nature played a pivotal role in persuading individuals to seek an exit from the State of Nature. He argued that these laws existed even in the absence of authority but were often disregarded. In his seminal work, “Leviathan,” Hobbes outlined 19 laws of nature. According to Hobbes, the only way to seek peace is the creation of state through social contract. Among these, some key laws included:

The first law advocated the pursuit of peace and following it.
The second law suggested that individuals should be willing to give up their natural rights in collaboration with others.
The third law emphasized the importance of honoring contracts.
The nineteenth law stated that no individual should be allowed to judge their own case.

Hobbes proposed that individuals collectively abandoned the State of Nature and established a society and state through a single contract. In this Social Contract, every individual, in the State of Nature, came together to create a Sovereign authority responsible for maintaining peace and security. He gave the negative concept of freedom where people surrender their rights to a sovereign state. Also this kind of Sovereignty refers to “legal sovereignty” as legally through social contract the state is sovereign.

Hobbes described this contract as individuals authorizing and surrendering their self-governing rights to the Sovereign, with the condition that others do the same. Consequently, the Hobbesian Social Contract gave rise to an undivided, unlimited, inalienable, and permanent Sovereign, formed through the will of the people.

Further, Hobbes deliberately ignores Aristotle in his works as Aristotle believed that “State is a natural institution” whereas for Hobbes state is “mechanical in nature” and it has to be established with the incorporation of Social Contract.

The Sovereign, as a result of the contract, was not a party to it but rather its creation. Therefore, all individuals in society became subjects of the Sovereign, and the Sovereign had no obligations toward its subjects. All natural rights of individuals were surrendered to the Sovereign permanently and could not be withdrawn, as doing so would regress society into a State of Nature.

Hobbes did not recognize the right to revolt or revolution and advocated for unlimited political obligation. Furthermore, since there was only one contract, if the government were overthrown, society would disintegrate, leading to a state of complete anarchy and insecurity. The social contract of Hobbes was pre-political and pre social in nature.

On Liberty and Self-Preservation

Hobbes presented a modern conception of liberty as the “absence of external impediments to motion”. Hobbes states rights are related to liberty and property of individuals. He contended that individuals were free to act in all matters except those explicitly forbidden by the Sovereign’s laws. Therefore, liberty was defined by what the law permitted and what it remained silent on. Hobbes defines freedom as private pursuit of the individual. All existence is simply matter in motion.

Individual liberties encompassed various aspects, such as property transactions, trade, dietary choices, education of children, private beliefs, and conscience rights. While the Sovereign possessed absolute authority over its subjects, there was one fundamental limitation to this authority: the right of self-preservation. Here Hobbes quoted that “fear is my twin brother”.

The right of self-preservation was the sole absolute right of the individual. Even the Sovereign could not infringe upon an individual’s right to life because the primary motivation behind the submission of power to the Sovereign was the assurance of self-preservation. If the Sovereign failed to protect an individual’s life, that individual retained the right to resist the Sovereign’s authority.

Political Obligation in Hobbes’s Philosophy

Thomas Hobbes, a prominent philosopher of his time, presented a compelling argument for unwavering political obligation towards an absolute sovereign. He provided several reasons to support this notion.

First, Hobbes believed in using sanctions and punishments to ensure individuals’ compliance with the sovereign’s authority.
Second, he emphasized the importance of individuals respecting their contractual agreements, as these contracts formed the bedrock of a functioning society.
Third, Hobbes considered the sovereign as the representative of individuals since they voluntarily vested power and authority in this figure.
Finally, he posited that civil law and the law of nature were intertwined, both stemming from divine commands.

Thus, Hobbes grounded political obligation in morality, providing a solid foundation for the sovereign’s authority. Hobbes’s theory of political obligation ultimately strengthened the position of the sovereign, reinforcing the need for an absolute authority in maintaining societal order.

Women and the Gender Question in Hobbes’s Philosophy

In his exploration of human nature and society, Hobbes also delved into the role of women and gender dynamics. He held that in the state of nature, women who gave birth held a unique position as both mothers and authorities over their children. Their authority derived from the act of protection and nurturing that childbirth necessitated.

However, as societies evolved into civil societies, Hobbes observed a shift in the status of women. They became subordinated and were denied the right to participate in the political process. Despite being an advocate for human equality in principle, Hobbes did not grant equal authority to both men and women. He defended the prevailing patriarchal structure by granting fathers exclusive jurisdiction within the family unit. Hobbes’s belief that males possessed greater wisdom and courage led him to endorse this patriarchal system further. Even in the broader context of the commonwealth, Hobbes assigned succession solely to male children, citing their natural fitness to rule.

Hobbes’s stance on gender equality remained complex. While he acknowledged the idea of gender equality, he did not overtly challenge or oppose the prevailing patriarchy of his time.

Comments on Thomas Hobbes

‘The leviathan is the greatest perhaps the sole master of Political Philosophy written in English Language’ – Oakeshott
‘Hobbes was the first one to lay down the science of Power Politics and also he is the spokesperson of Bourgeois morality’ – Machpherson
‘Hobbesian conception of human nature was libel on individuals for he characterized them worse than bears and Wolves’. – Bramhall
‘Hobbesian State is authoritarian’ – William Ebinstien
‘Hobbesian state of nature is classical example of “Prisoner’s dilemma of game” – John Rawls

Important quotes by Hobbes

‘Fear and I were born twins’.
“Curiosity is the lust of mind’.
‘It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law’.
‘Force and Fraud are in War the two cardinal virtues’.
‘In the State of Nature, Profit is the measure of right’.
‘No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent deaths: and the life of man, Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short ‘.
‘Science is the Knowledge of Consequences from Philosophical Reasoning’.
‘Even the worst form of government is better than anarchy

Conclusion

In conclusion, Thomas Hobbes made significant contributions to political philosophy by constructing a systematic theory encompassing absolute sovereignty, the laws of nature, human nature, and political obligation. His philosophy emphasized the necessity of a sovereign authority to prevent perpetual war and conflict. Hobbes considered self-preservation a fundamental law of nature and believed that the state’s primary role was to ensure peace, order, and security, in contrast to Aristotle’s concept of the state as a granter of a good life.

Hobbes’s political thought was a response to the changing conditions of 17th-century England, addressing political conflicts, the demand for religious virtue, and economic restructuring. He began with the notion of natural rights but ultimately constrained them within a viable civil society. While he restricted the natural liberty of individuals, he did not endorse the idea of individuals having the right to curtail the authority of the state. Hobbes’s philosophical legacy continues to shape our understanding of politics and society, shedding light on both enduring and evolving aspects of his ideas.

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