Thomas Hobbes
(1588-1679)
Historical Context
• Political
– Civil war
– Social contract theoryA theory which grounds the legitimacy of political authority, and the obligations of rulers and subjects, on a premised contract relating to these matters
A branch of political philosophy
• Economic
– Emerging market economy
– Enclosures: social dislocations• Scientific
– Scientific revolution
Rejection of metaphysical teleology & Aristotle
Reliance on mathematics & empirical observation
Metaphysics: Mechanistic Materialism
Everything is ultimately reducible to bodies in motion (re: Democritus, 5th century B.C.)
"Life is but a motion of limbs"
Human Motion
Vital - does not involve the mind
Voluntary - involves the mind
Endeavors - small beginnings of voluntary motions
Desire
- sensed as pleasure/joy
Aversion
- sensed as pain/fear
Psychological Egoism
The view that humans are so constituted that they will always act in their own self-interest
Purportedly a statement of fact - "is"
"Good" & "Evil"
Subjective–State of Nature–Denotes individual’s preference: desire / aversion–No moral importObjective–Commonwealth–Denotes legal relations: legality / illegality–Moral terms
State of Nature: Conditions
Equality of individuals
Egoistic nature
Self preservation
Enjoyment / PleasureScarcity of resources - competition
Right to all things = unimpeded exercise of egoistic nature
State of Nature: Result
War of all against all
Note:
This is contrary to our egoistic interests (self-preservation and enjoyment) and yet is itself the result of the unbridled exercise of our egoism - i.e., unchecked egoism is self-defeating
The state of nature is a theoretical construct, a philosophical fiction
Justice/Injustice
(= right/wrong =
good/evil)
Justice = doing one’s duty
Injustice = not doing one's dutyDuty & Right: correlative terms
- to the extent we have right we have no duty
- to the extent we have duty we have no right
In the state of nature, we have an absolute right to all things and, given the correlative nature of right and duty, no duties
Thus, in the state of nature the notions of justice/injustice - which hinge on doing or not doing one's duty - do not apply since there are no duties
Right of Nature
The liberty each person has to use their power for self-preservation
- "Liberty" - absence of external impediment of motion
By nature nothing impedes a person’s motion, hence there is a natural "right to all things"
- A totally secular, non-theological, non-metaphysical notion of "natural rights"
Laws of Nature
Law of Nature
a general rule
discovered by reason
forbidding doing that which is self-destructive
First & Fundamental Law of Nature: Seek Peace (since the war of all against all is self-destructive)
Second Law of Nature: Lay Down the Right to All Things
Social Contract
The mutual transferring of right is called Contract
Ends the state of nature
Beginning of social existence (in the commonwealth)
Beginning of morality
no longer have the absolute right to all things
hence, there are duties (insofar as there is no right)
"right/wrong", "justice/injustice" now have meaning (which in large part will be determined by law)
Law
In the commonwealth, the right to all has been transferred to the sovereign
- This right includes the right to govern oneself
The sovereign now has the right to govern and this is done through law
Having transferred their right to govern, the subjects have a duty with respect to the law and the sovereign's governance
Liberty of Subjects re:
Law
(what a subject may justly do,
i.e., do with right)
Absolute
- right to self-preservation (life)
Contingent
- that which is not forbidden by law
Outside of these bounds, subjects have a moral obligation to obey the law
Liberty of the Sovereign
(what the sovereign may justly do. i.e., do with right)
A Note on Morality & Egoism
• EXISTENCE of morality is due to the individual’s egoistic interest in self-preservation and thus ending the war of all against all - this is what gives rise to duties and morality
• CONTENT of morality insofar as it grounded in the specific contours of law is determined by the sovereign’s egoistic interest in making those laws
Right of Revolution
Ends of government: peace & common defense
When government fails to fulfill its ends (thereby directly or indirectly threatening the subjects’ life), the subjects can rebel without doing an injustice since the subjects maintained their right to life