PDS 308
Science of Politics, state of nature, contract
and sovereignty
• THOMAS HOBBES was an English political philosopher who wrote in the in the 17th century, which was dominated by the 30 years of war.
• Hobbes emphasizes several ideas that have become central to
modern politics and modern political science. He argues that human beings are not naturally social or political which makes the ‘state of nature’ a ‘state of war’, this led to the creation of government with a mutual consent.
• Hobbes gives an account of political order (commonwealth) that portrays it as a self-conscious construction, an artifice we craft to remove ourselves from a pre-political state of nature.
Cont’d
• His political science proper therefore constitutes only the section of the Leviathan that concerns the “consequences” that follow from this
choice, namely, the rights and duties of the sovereign and of the subjects that are necessary to maintain this basic political agreement. This choice, however, follows upon our passions and our speech, especially our calling “good” the object of our desires, and pleasure the appearance of it.
State of Nature (this is an imaginary state of no government/law/check and balances)
Hobbes begins his discussion with a description of human passions and speech, our basic motions. Following this, Hobbes develops his account of the state of nature from the claim that human beings are naturally equal. By this he means that each individual possesses the natural right to preserve
Cont’d
and furthermore the natural right to claim all things, or seek all power, that he judges necessary to this end. Moreover, Hobbes writes, in the state of nature we are, for practical purposes, equal in physical and mental capacity, since no one is strong or smart enough to defend
himself with certainty against the threats that arise from the efforts of other individuals to preserve themselves.
• According to Hobbes, this rough equality of ability leads each person to have an equal hope of acquiring good things for himself. As
individuals strive to accumulate goods, they compete with each other, and consequently create an atmosphere of distrust.
Cont’d
• The attempt to acquire things, and to preserve them from the
encroachments of others, causes us to try to dominate and control those around us. Furthermore, Hobbes observes, some people care particularly to be known as that sort who can dominate—they are vainglorious or prideful individuals who are unhappy if they are not recognized as superior.
• In a more scientific way, while describing the state of nature, Hobbes sees the world as been made up of bodies (atoms) in motion. which are arranged in an orderly pattern and which follow well-defined
causal law. He thinks of human societies as starting from a mass of atoms, and wishes to construct human society from its component parts by means of a ‘causal definition‘.
Cont’d
• Thus in his view, the atoms are always in collision and liable to knock one another to pieces. This Hobbes‘ pessimistic notion of human nature
explains his idea of the state of nature pre-occupied with civil strife and warfare; the state of lawlessness. For him, the main cause of ordered society is the desire for security; while the main causes of disorder are
competition, distrust and ‘glory‘ (enjoyment of power) (Hobbes 1963). The quest for an ordered society led to the next section;
Social Contract
• With the above description of state of nature, it becomes so glaring that the only way to have peace is for each individual to give up his natural right to acquire and preserve everything in whatever manner he sees fit.
Cont’d
• As Hobbes stipulates, this must be a collective endeavor, since it only makes sense for an individual to give up his right to attack others if everyone else agrees to do the same. He calls this collective
renunciation of each individual’s right to all things the “social
contract.” The social contract inverts the state of nature while also building upon some key passions responsible for the state of nature: it amounts to a more intelligent way to preserve oneself and safely acquire goods.
Cont’d
Leviathan (Sovereign)
• In order to make the social contract legally binding, there is a need to institute some guarantee that everyone involved in the social contract will keep his word. Hobbes argues that individuals require a “visible
power to keep them in awe,” to remind them of the purpose of the social contract and to force them, for fear of punishment, to keep their promises. This power must also be sufficient to keep in check
the yearning for superiority of those who desire honor or glory.
Hobbes calls the power necessary to transform the desire for a social contract into a commonwealth the sovereign, the Leviathan, or the “king of the proud.”
Cont’d
• The relation of the sovereign to the subject is not a contract. Rather, as
Hobbes makes clear, the individual must understand his will to be identical with the sovereign will, since one who desires peace must logically ‘will’
whatever is necessary for peace to be maintained. The “real unity” that the subjects and the sovereign comprise is like an image made of small
individuals as dramatically expressed in the picture found on the cover of the Leviathan.
• A common perception of a Leviathan is that its a king. Hobbes makes clear that the sovereign power can be composed of one person, several, or many, in other words, the Leviathan can equally well describe a monarchy, an
aristocracy, or a democracy. According to Hobbes the sole responsibility of the Leviathan is to engage absolute power to defend Social contract and decide what is necessary for its defense.
