Thoughts on Hobbe's Leviathan

Thomas Hobbes’ (1588-1679) Leviathan is one of the most influential books about social contract theory. Social contract theory is a belief whereby surrendering personal freedoms to a higher authority (ie. government) is made in return for greater protection. While researching Hobbes, I found that before he took an interest in politics and government he was concerned with the sciences. It was his study of physics that helped influence his work in society and human nature. Hobbes was fascinated by the physics of motion. He noticed a similarity between the orderliness of nature and social interaction, or the rules by which humans interacted with each other and how they governed themselves. 

In the Leviathan, Hobbes describes man as corrupt by nature. Since resources are necessary for man’s survival men will do whatever possible to ensure he has the most and the best goods/tools to succeed. Therefore, man cannot be trusted to establish a peaceful society if each individual is his own principal. By way of nature, man’s ego, as Hobbes explains, is to protect and further his well-being and “glory” at whatever cost. Hobbes makes a great analogy comparing men and stones which helps vividly describe the problem of men in a society. He suggests that a building which is made of many different stones is like our society which is made of different men. Some stones are fat and take up a lot of space making it hard to conform to the rest of the building. These stones, like the greedy and pompous men in our communities and institutions who take more than what they need, make our construction ugly and difficult to keep structured (chapter 15 page 93).

Hobbes realized that in order to achieve order people must surrender some of their personal rights to a higher authority who will grant them peace and safety. This is known as the social contract. People who place their trust in a leader who will acquire resources for them and society at large, won't have to worry about finding their own, thereby giving way to more peaceful societies.
Works Cited
Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Edited by Flathman, Richard, Johnston, David. 1997.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 8, 2018 at 4:20 PM

    I really did enjoy Hobbes scientific approach to humanity. It is so robotic at times that it really seems to liken us to the robots we surround ourselves with now. Maybe Hobbes wanted to protect humankind from the issues of morals and ethics we face by simply taking them out of the equation. Like the worker ants, he wants to reduce us to the natural level of being in the attempt to remove conflict. Whether that invites internal conflict upon the people by their leader remains to be seen.

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