Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
¶ … Hobbes' Theories
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was a famous English philosopher and political theorist who profoundly influenced the political events during the so-called English Revolution (1640-1660), a time of great upheaval and disorder. Hobbes wrote his famous work Leviathan (1651) in this period in which he advocated a form of government in which the subjects hand over all the authority to the ruler. Hobbes is also thought to be the major influence behind the ethical philosophy of Utilitarianism and has contributed greatly to the development of psychology and modern sociology. Hobbes was one of the first philosophers to give a secular justification for a secular state and was responsible for the departure from a religiously centered thinking (the Scholasticism) in Europe that was opposed to any new ideas beyond the Christian theology and the Greek philosophies. This departure from Scholasticism is one of the turning points in Western civilization as secularism became increasingly important and the all-pervasive influence of religion and theology (on the ways in which the governments were run and on the way people led...
This was a significant departure from the prevalent doctrine of teleology that explained that nature and creation are ordered and regulated by a divine plan. Hobbes attempted to explain the phenomenon of nature by the scientific and mechanical laws of nature. In the field of human psychology Hobbes presented his concept of naturalistic self-interest. He believed that all human behavior is controlled by its instinct for self-interest. He proposed his theory of appetite and aversion that explains human behavior in terms of all efforts by individuals to try and move towards a state of pleasure and away from pain. His materialistic theories had also put him in trouble with the authorities in his lifetime that considered his work atheistic. In his Leviathan observes: "human life in its state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short" and that it is engaged " in a war of all against all."
As a consequence,…
Children who are educated on the principles of Hobbes' theories are likely to grow up being skeptical of the theories of divine religion, although not necessarily irreligious. This is because Hobbes was not a rabid atheist and was only arguing for a distinction between knowledge and faith believing that belief in God was a matter of faith and one could not "gain" knowledge of God. One must also remember the historical context in which Hobbes presented his theories as he was reacting to the decentralizing ideas of reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries. Hence, in my opinion children who are brought up with knowledge of Hobbes' philosophy would be more aware of the human psychology and be better off.
As opposed to Hobbes, Plato the great Greek philosopher explains his philosophy of human nature and ethics through his theories of Forms and his theory of Knowledge. Plato's theories are much more abstract as compared to Hobbes' down to earth "materialistic" theories. Plato rejects empiricism or the claim that knowledge is based on "sense" experience. Plato in his major work Republic distinguishes between the two levels of awareness: opinion and knowledge. He puts scientific observation in the category of opinion that in Plato's opinion is a "lower" level of awareness. Plato argues that knowledge, which is gained through reason, is awareness of a "higher" level. In my opinion, Plato's theories, although striving for a higher philosophical level, are much too vague to provide a road map for a better society. Hobbes has given a more scientific and practical guideline for development of an ideal society, perhaps because he was born several centuries after Plato and had the benefit of having read Plato and several other great thinkers and philosophers who have developed the theories of philosophy since Plato's time.
Source: Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1997
The traits of the character are regular male traits from the society of that time. The character does not seem to be someone in particular (such a as a well-known knight or king), but a general representation of authority. And his name is Leviathan. The expression on his face is rather neutral, although the look in his eyes might transmit how heavy ad difficult the burden of authority is. This implies
That artificial institution would be "endowed with enough power to deter violence and promise-breaking among it's subjects." But, in conclusion, if that "artificial" institution uses violence or repression to "keep disorder at bay" then, according to what I have gained from reading Hobbes, individuals like myself will have the natural right to disobey those unfair orders, and create an alternative "artificial institution" to be truly free and express absolute liberty.
Thomas Hobbes It is rather ironic to note that the development of higher philosophic ideas causes man to constrain the whole world within the narrow assumptions of his personal understanding of the world. In such instances, philosophers, who are expected to define and assimilate various conflicting ideas into an acceptable explanation of the world, shrink their perspectives and adamantly defines the world within limits set by them. The ideas of Thomas Hobbes
Philosophical Work: Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan Chapters 17, 19, 29 At the beginning of the first chapter of the second part of his monumental philosophical treatise upon the nature of government, entitled Leviathan, the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes stated that "the final cause, end, or design of men (who naturally love liberty, and dominion over others) in the introduction of that restraint upon themselves, in which we see them live in Commonwealths,
Hobbes Leviathan Thomas Hobbes thought that all human beings were equal in the state of nature, but all equally greedy, violent, vengeful and brutal. As he argued in Leviathan, this was a universal trait of humanity and that the purpose of contracting to form a state and civil society was basically to keep order. As he put it in his famous formulation in Chapter 13, the state of nature was a
Spielvogel, 2009). Hobbes cites two ways to attain absolute monarchy; by institution and by acquisition. The first one is achieved by voluntary agreement among a multitude of people wherein the selection of the sovereign power is done through the casting of votes or similar. He states that the main reason why people want a commonwealth by institution is because of fear of one another; they want a greater power to