The philosophy of Thomas Hobbes is perhaps the most revolutionary and unique philosophy of the 17th century. Hobbes had a unique vision of the world in all its components: society, politics, physics, religion and nature. Unlike his contemporaries, Hobbes managed to merge these otherwise divergent philosophical sciences into a single innovative philosophy. Hobbes is rightly considered one of the greatest philosophers of all time. Many of his political and social theories are still relevant today. Although his attempt to explore science failed, his ideas regarding its importance and relevance to other elements of life prevailed. His analysis of Christianity and other religions boldly challenged the beliefs of his time and influenced the development of religion in the future. Hobbes's most enduring theories concerned political and social issues. He explored the simplest path to peaceful coexistence among all humans and how humans could escape civil strife. Hobbes's conclusions on these obscure matters were rooted in his own personal fears and his belief that fear itself was the most important psychological factor in maintaining civil and social peace. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Much of Hobbes's personal fear is a result of the times in which he lived. On the day of his birth in 1588, the English people learned that the Spanish Armada was returning to England to attack. Upon learning of the ominous day of his birth, Hobbes reportedly said, “Fear and I were born twins together.” Leviathan was written to some extent because of Hobbes's fear of the unstable political situation in England at the time he was writing. Hobbes wrote Leviathan in the years between the English Civil Wars and it was published during the Commonwealth years. During the years that Hobbes was writing Leviathan, it became known that Parliament would soon order the execution of Charles I. As Hobbes was a royalist and a staunch personal supporter of Charles I, and even the guardian of his son, future king, Charles II, Hobbes felt in danger of persecution. To escape persecution, Hobbes fled to France where he spent the next eleven years. Hobbes lived through one of the most tumultuous periods in British history. The unrest in Britain had many components: political, religious, economic and militarily fragmented. Parliament was in aggressive conflict with the king, Catholics and Protestants were openly persecuting each other, British citizens were protesting for a more equitable distribution of wealth, and various geographic regions with conflicting beliefs in each of these categories were distrusting each other. Perhaps the universal instability straddling all walks of life pushed Hobbes to create a philosophy that addressed and ultimately synthesized each of these issues into a single set of beliefs. Therefore, Hobbes's conception of Hell on Earth in Leviathan as social and political unrest makes sense in the context of the times, since Hobbes had to deal with both on a regular basis. In addition to its unstable environment which inspired his most famous film. work, other philosophers and philosophies of his time influenced Hobbes. Hobbes reacted vehemently against the scholastic tradition that had emerged in the Middle Ages and against the political ramifications of its widespread acceptance. Hobbes discovered scholasticism tothe first time in his Jesuit secondary school where students learned to use reason solely for the purpose of strengthening faith in God. Hobbes was particularly unhappy with the scholastics' emphasis on religious authority in government. As a philosopher, many years later, Hobbes completely overturned this philosophy by frequently asserting that theology should be separated from politics, particularly in the determination of authority and political policy. Scholasticism forced Hobbes to construct a more feasible antithesis. Thus, his emphasis on the exclusion of God from the process of reason and philosophy arose. Another of Hobbes' major influences was the new scientific method which favored deductive reasoning rather than Aristotelian inductive reasoning. Hobbes's fascination with geometry and its simultaneous re-emergence as an important science also shaped his method of reasoning and thinking. Hobbes placed great emphasis on working from basic first principles (established by God) to complex conclusions. Hobbes's mechanistic approach to reasoning is evident throughout Leviathan; for example, the entire text is written as a geometric proof. The first chapter establishes first principles and appropriately examines the very nature of ideas; the ideas become progressively more complex and layered as the book progresses. It is significant that each principle established in Leviathan depends on the foundations established by previous principles. Hobbes relies on human perception based on the law of inertia and a materialistic perception of the universe. He then discusses the "desires", "appetites" and "aversions" linked to these same perceptions as inciting actions for all voluntary and involuntary human behavior. From these causes of human behavior, he finally moves on to the likely relationships between humans and their larger societies. Mechanics of the Mind In the first part of the first book of Leviathan, Hobbes examines the mechanical processes involved in human thought. He proposes that sensory perception triggers the imagination which then activates a “train of thoughts”. One of the first points made by Hobbes is that humans acquire knowledge of the external world through: The external body, or object, which presses the organ proper to each sense, either immediately, as in taste and touch; or mediately, as in sight, hearing, and smell; which pressure, through the nerves and other cords and membranes of the body, continued inward to the brain and heart, causes there a resistance, or counter-pressure, or effort of the heart to liberate, who strives, because outwards. , appears to be matter on the outside. That is, tangible objects in the universe engage the senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste), which sets off a chain reaction of movement until finally sensory perception becomes a intangible idea. or a feeling in the brain or heart. This process centers on the theory borrowed from Hobbes that once an object is in motion, it remains in motion until it encounters some sort of obstacle. Once the feeling reaches its final tangible destination, the brain or the heart, it no longer has any other materialistic thing to transfer its movement to. This obstacle of physical inertia causes movement to be transferred from sensory perception to thoughts or imagination. Hobbes explains this process: “Imagination, then, is nothing other than the decadence of the senses…the decadence of the senses in awakened men is not the decadence of the movement created by the sense; but an obscuration of it. He provides an example to clarify his theory. Hobbes suggests that the vision or image persists in the mind (distorted in the imagination) even after the "sensory apparatus" (the eyes) is blocked. Therefore, the immediate movement of the image coming into contact with the eyes is always in motion as a mediated movement passing through the imagination. Continuing the transfer of motion, over time this visual figment of the imagination becomes a memory. Imagination from initial sensory perception becomes understanding. For example, an eye perceives a daisy, the organs of the eye transmit it to the frontal lobe of the brain, which evaluates the meaning of the image and finally stores it as a memory based on its meaning to the perceiver. Feelings, correlations with other understandings, connotations, etc. associated with the obscured version of the original image constitute understanding. Hobbes notes that animals like humans have the mental capacity for understanding. “For a dog, by custom, will understand the call or assessment of its master.” The point of distinction between the mental capacities of animals and humans lies in the human's ability to understand the purpose of his recall of the vision, as well as the conceptions and thoughts he has previously and currently associated with the vision. , as well as the sequence of thoughts that led to him recalling the image and the sequence of thoughts that followed the memory. Hobbes calls this sequence of thoughts the “train of thoughts.” Hobbes defines the “train of thoughts” as “that succession from one thought to another” to which he refers to mental discourse. He then goes on to describe the benefits of mental discourse. Remembrance, or “calling to the spirit,” allows man to reconstruct the path to the desired end point, and not just the one he desires. Prudence allows man to avoid repeating the same mistake twice since he is able to recall the cause and consequences of that mistake from a recalled train of thoughts. Finally, the ability to remember a train of thought defies metaphysics: ideas can become infinite. Hobbes' theory of the origin of thought follows a geometric and deductive thought process. His argument reads like a flowchart; each conclusion depends on the conclusion established before it and the validity of each conclusion depends on the validity of each prior conclusion. Essentially, Hobbes suggests that thought comes from imagination, which comes from sense perception, which comes from a material object in the external world. His entire theory depends on the concept of sustained motion and his assertion that matter cannot move on its own. However, there is a major flaw in this theory that Hobbes cleverly evades: what is the initial movement and what triggers the initial movement. He addresses this point later in his book and suggests that these "first principles" are implemented by the hand of God which then leaves any further action to the transfer of motion through material collisions in the external world. This first section of Leviathan is important as a foundation for the rest of the book. He ingeniously establishes his preferred way of thinking and reasoning by providing an example within philosophy forcing the reader to think deductively. In order to reach the conclusion, the reader must first understand the conclusions inferred along the way. Furthermore, Hobbes' method of reasoning focuses largely on the existence and importance of the natural world and the human ability to perceive it. After all, without the natural world and humans' subjective perception of it, there would be no thought processes. This philosophyof the mechanics of the human mind is an interesting fusion of natural sciences, biological sciences and psychological sciences, all dependent on each other for conclusion. Discourse and the Foundation of Civil Peace: Unanimous Approval The next section of Hobbes discusses verbal discourse (naturally, a logical transition from the discussion of mental discourse). Hobbes suggests that speech was invented as a continuation of motion transfer, to transform mental speech into verbal speech. He introduces two advantages of this transferred movement: 1) “recording the consequences of our thoughts” which might otherwise have been forgotten. Assigning words to “imaginings,” “understandings,” “memories,” “thought paths,” and conclusions function as “markers” for memorization and effective communication. 2) “when many use the same words, to signify, by their connection and their order, to one another, what they conceive or think of each matter; and also what they desire, fear or have any other passion for. In this case, words are called “signs” to represent ideas. Once again, the law of inertia applies; trains of thoughts are transferred into words which are then transferred into a verbal dialogue which initiates an entirely distinct train of thoughts in another mind. The most significant idea of ​​this part of Hobbes's philosophy is the notion that those who communicate must understand words according to common definitions, otherwise they become ineffective and misdirect the transfer of motion. Hobbes then describes four uses of speech and four abuses of speech. The uses of speech are: 1) it allows humans to record knowledge that contributes to the acquisition and preservation of the arts. 2) Humans are capable of communicating this knowledge. 3) Humans are able to communicate their intentions or needs and are thus able to elicit help. 4) Humans can have fun playing with words. Hobbes then warns of the potential abuses of speech: 1) the potential for careless meaning; definitions may change if words are used inappropriately or out of context. 2) There is a danger in using metaphors; when words mean or represent other words, they can be used as a tool of deception. 3) It can be used to lie or deceive other humans. 4) It can be used to psychologically harm other humans. The nature of speech and the manner in which it is used, for good or evil, depends on the "names and their connection." Consistency in word definitions is extremely important to Hobbes. Concerning the necessity of definitions, he says: Seeing that truth consists in the correct order of the names in our statements, a man who seeks precise truth needs to remember what each name he uses means and to place accordingly, otherwise it will. finds himself entangled in words, like a bird in linden twigs, the more he struggles, the more untied he becomes. And this is why, in geometry, which is the only science that God has so far been pleased to give to humanity, men begin by establishing the meaning of their words; which set of meanings they call definitions and place them at the beginning of their calculation. Hobbes believes that this system of using universal definitions as the cornerstone of certainty is justifiable on the basis that geometry, God's most revered science as it appears in nature, is based on accepted definitions. Because everyone agreed on these principles,there is no room for conflicts or arguments. With this statement, Hobbes now partly fills the gap he left in his first section on the mechanics of the mind; it becomes clear that precise definitions of words form the foundation of the first principles of any thought process. This section on discourse also raises another important premise: truth is a social construct. Since definitions are the first principles of any thought process and society not only establishes the definitions of words, but also approves them as a group; therefore, conclusions are valid because society creates them. Hobbes also sees positive political ramifications in this method of establishing words as the basis of reason. Because society approves of the definitions as a whole, they make government decisions together in a productive and peaceful manner. Thus, the precondition of common approval of words as the basis of reason leads to civil peace and productivity. However, this conclusion leads to another flaw in his argument: how to achieve social consensus on definitions. Because Hobbes believes that knowledge cannot be found through an exploration of nature due to the fact that nature is perceived subjectively by each individual, Hobbes ultimately comes to the conclusion that definitions must be established by an arbiter whom he identifies later in the book. The institution of an all-powerful judge with total control over the foundations of reason is an extreme proposition. This notion of power concentrated in a single person or group of people becomes a substantial part of Hobbes's assessment of society and politics. ReasonReason, one of man's only abilities superior to animals, becomes another of Hobbes's key inquiries. According to Hobbes, “reason… is nothing other than a calculation, that is, an addition and subtraction, of the consequences of general names agreed to mark and signify our thoughts. » Science is explored through reason; knowledge is acquired through science; truth is discovered through knowledge. To arrive at the truth, one must fully engage reason to first obtain knowledge. Thus, the goal of reason's engagement is known: the search for certainty. Reason, like science, is a geometric process. The use and end of reason does not consist in discovering the sum and truth of a single one, or a few consequences, removed from the first definitions and established meanings of names, but in beginning with these, and proceeding from 'one consequence to another. For there can be no certainty of the latter conclusion, without certainty of all the assertions and negotiations on which it was founded and deduced. This process of geometric reasoning with conclusions that were deduced through a scientific process beginning at the foundations of reason. , definition, and ending with a valid conclusion built on the conclusions established along the way. Hobbes achieves science by means of a complex deductive and mathematical formula. It appears from this that reason is not, like sense and memory, born with us; nor obtained by experience alone, as prudence is; but reached by industry; first in this just imposition of names; and secondly, by adopting a good and orderly method of proceeding from the elements, which are names, to the assertions made by connections from one assertion to another, until we come to know all the consequences of the names belonging to the subject in question; and there you have it, men call SCIENCE. By arriving at science throughreason from solidly established definitions, Hobbes makes his philosophy incontestable. Since each step of his reasoning depends on the validity of the previous step, each step adds strength to his philosophy. So, once again, Hobbes proposes that this method of reasoning can only lead to civil peace since there will be no disputes. Since Hobbes' greatest fear was civil war and political unrest, this system of reason seemed the perfect remedy for a stable society entirely dependent on social consent. However, as each of his arguments tends to do, this argument contains a hole: the notion of an all-powerful judge as the supreme authority over the definitions of words, the foundations of reason, and anything built on reason. reason, hints at totalitarianism and moves away from the autocratic, self-imposed government that Hobbes had previously alluded to. It also undermines the humanism of all; they have no control over the foundations of their thought process. While theologians point to God as the cornerstone of reason and knowledge, Hobbes emphasizes this supreme and tenuous authority. Nature of Human Behavior Next, Hobbes explores human nature from a psychological perspective. It evaluates the internal drives of humans, the consequences of those drives, the characteristics of humans that result from the consequences of those drives, and the implications that those characteristics have on society as a whole. Hobbes begins this review with an assessment of the origin of motion in living organisms; he begins by focusing on animals. According to Hobbes, there are two types of movement in an animal: vital and voluntary. Vital movements involve uncontrollable biological functions such as blood circulation, gas exchange, digestion, etc. Voluntary movements include deliberate actions of which the animal is conscious such as walking, eating, drinking, speaking, fighting, etc. Hobbes refers to these conscious but habitual actions. motions as “efforts”. Hobbes's goal in this section is to determine the factors that motivate these efforts. “This effort, when it aims at something which provokes it, is called Appetite or Desire; …And when effort comes from something, it is usually called Aversion. As in the argument about the mechanics of the mind, appetites and aversions are the product of material stimuli that come into contact with sensory apparatuses that transfer the movement of this collision into understandings and trains of thought. The train of thought that turns into appetite or aversion is precipitated by the material kinetics of the external world when it comes into contact with the human body. Therefore, human nature is directly linked and dependent on the eternal and incessant movement of the external world. Then, in his reasoning process, Hobbes breaks down appetites and aversions into two categories: those “born within men” and those “proceeding from experience”. . » The appetites and aversions born in men arise from something “which they feel in their body” such as “the appetite for food, the appetite for excretion and exoneration”. The appetites and aversions arising from experience are the result of the consequences of "testing their efforts upon themselves or upon other men." It is these appetites and aversions proceeding from experience, of which “we do not know everything, or believe ourselves not to be, that we can have no other desire than to taste and try. But we have an aversion to things, not only which we know have harmed us, but also which we do not know whether they will harm us or not.From these relative unknowns “passions” are born. Hobbes lists a wide range of diverse “passions” such as cruelty, envy, kindness, natural lust, joy, and despair. He sums up the consequences of these passions when he says: “But whatever is the object of a man's appetite or desire, this he for his part calls good; and the object of his hatred and aversion, evil; and his contempt, vile and insignificant. From these passions, man encounters a conflict: "when in the mind of a man arise alternately appetites and aversions, hopes and fears concerning one and the same thing", the man enters into what Hobbes called “deliberation”. When a person deliberates about something, they enter into a thought process with the goal of judging something as good or bad and determining whether or not they should act on the basis of that judgment. The decision to act or remain inactive is called “willpower.” When a person utters a final sentence of judgment in a speech, it has the potential to result in science. When speech is put into speech, and begins with the definition of words, and proceeds by connecting them with general language. affirmations, and of these again in syllogisms; the end or last sum is called the conclusion; and the thought of the mind thereby signified is that conditional knowledge, or knowledge of the consequences of words, which is commonly called science. He then warns that if the first principle of reasoning is not based on definitions, then the conclusion is called "opinion" and is not considered scientific. Furthermore, when the reasoning begins with a person's original definitions, it is still not science. But if the person truly believes in first principles, that is called “belief” and “faith.” Belief is a conviction in the person, and faith is in the truth of their message. Through this argument, Hobbes establishes that all knowledge, however truthful it may be, is conditional if the foundations are not established in definitions agreed upon by all or established by the judge. Once again, Hobbes proves the credibility of his method of reasoning; he excludes every other type of knowledge and every other path to truth, except his own. His systematic deductive approach to reason is the only surefire way to achieve real knowledge and truth. Power and Fear In addition to the search for knowledge and truth, Hobbes concludes that appetite and aversion have other, more significant, consequences for human psychology and subsequent behavior. Man's strongest appetite is the appetite for power. Hobbes argues that the quest for knowledge, the quest for honor, and the quest for wealth all collapse into an irresistible appetite for power. Hobbes divides power into two categories: natural and instrumental. Natural power is “the eminence of the faculties of the body or the mind: such as extraordinary strength, form, prudence, arts, eloquence, liberality, nobility”. Instrumental powers are powers acquired either through effective use of natural forces or through inherited wealth. These powers “are means and instruments to acquire more: as riches, reputation, friends, and the secret work of God, which men call good luck.” Hobbes asserts that the appetite for power by any means necessary is human nature and a virtually irrepressible desire. His conclusion on power states: “So that in the first place I put forward a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire for power after power, which ceases only in death. » The competition to accumulate the most power istranslated into extreme means employed by humans. The behavioral consequence of this despair is fear. Fear is the antithesis of the lust for power. Fear is the ultimate aversion. Fear of the powers of others is the only antidote to the appetite for power. The fear of death and injury disposes to the same thing: not for the same reason. On the contrary, needy and robust men, not satisfied with their current condition; likewise, all ambitious men in military command are inclined to pursue the cause of war; and to stir up trouble and sedition: for there is no military honor except through war; nor any hope of fixing a bad game, such as by causing a new rework. Hobbes concludes that the appetite for power is the ultimate cause of civil unrest and that the only solution to the problem is an appropriate implementation of fear. The constant struggle between fear and power drives men to want to escape their current predicament. According to Hobbes, because likes and dislikes are part of human nature, they are inevitable and people are therefore trapped in a perpetual conflict between competition for power, fear of those in power, fear of those who want to steal your power, and the fear of death by men hungry for power and unregulated by the government instituted consequences of such action. Because appetite and aversion are mechanical components of human nature and because resources for self-defense and usurpation of power are limited, the natural result is violent war. Hobbes' final point in this segment is that although people may differ in their natural powers, they each share one absolute power: the power to kill. Nature has made men so equal, in the faculties of body and mind; as if we sometimes find a man clearly stronger in body or more lively in mind than another; yet, when all is considered together, the difference between man and man is not so considerable that one man can then claim for himself a benefit to which another cannot claim, as well as he. For as to physical strength, the weaker has strength enough to kill the stronger, either by secret machination, or by confederation with others, who run the same danger in themselves. The consequence of this equality is distrust of each other among humans. . They become skeptical of each other. Their ultimate goal is to destroy. The historian MM Goldsmith explains this dangerous and unstoppable continuation of the movement: The consequence of natural equality is an equal hope for each man to achieve his ends. Since desire in every man is in principle unlimited (even if it is not necessarily unlimited in fact) and all men have equal hopes of achieving their ends, whenever two men desire the same thing of which they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies. In their competition to satisfy their desires, they strive to destroy or submit. Hobbes states that when the only fear a man has is fear of another man's power, he has nothing to lose in his attempt to steal that power by any means. necessary means. Distrust eventually leads to war. And from this distrust of one another, there is no way for any man to secure himself, so reasonably as anticipation; that is to say, by force or by trickery, master the person of all the men he can, as long as he sees no other power great enough to endanger him: and this is nothing more than what its own preservation requires, and it is generally permitted. It is inevitableThe state of war motivated by the conflict betweenthe appetite and aversion for power and fear respectively describe what Hobbes calls "the state of nature". It is important at this point in the treatise to reiterate Hobbes's systematically deductive method of reasoning in his own text. The “State of Nature” or state of perpetual war and competition arises from an insatiable appetite for power and an irrepressible aversion to fear of those in power. State of Nature According to Hobbes, the “state of nature” is the natural condition of humans prior to organized organization. society and government. Hobbes's description of humans in this state is rather pessimistic; he depicts them as ruthless warriors, independent of any cause or affiliation other than their own personal quest for power. Meanwhile men live without common power to keep them all in awe, they are in a state called Warre; and such a war, like that of every man, against every man…. Under such conditions, there is no room for industry…no cultivation of the Earth; no navigation… no convenient building; no instruments of movement…no knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no arts; no letters; no company; and what is worst of all, a continual fear and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutal and short. Although Hobbes's "state of nature" is fictional, there are elements of it in real life. Civil war is a prime example of a “state of nature,” as are violent crimes and imperialist actions by superstates exploiting the vulnerability of weaker states for resources or other advantages. The only way out of the horrible state of nature is through two passions inherent in every man: fear and reason. Fear of oppression and the power of others pushes men to seek escape from their hellish reality. Hobbes' method of reasoning provides the fearful man with the means to find a way to escape. Here again, Hobbes's conclusions are open-ended. There always seems to be a flaw in every definitive conclusion that leads directly to its next argument. Once the fearful man employs reason to escape the "state of nature," he must then employ reason again to establish a reasonable basis for peace. Hobbes's next segment focuses on how this peace might be established and maintained. Natural Law Hobbes explains the laws of nature as a "precept or general rule, discovered by reason, by which a man is forbidden to do that which is destructive to his life." , or removes the means of preserving it; and to omit that by which he thinks it can be best preserved. The laws of nature are different from the laws created and enforced by governments; they do not need to be published and distributed. The laws of nature are inherent to every human being because they can be deduced through Hobbes's process of reasoning. According to Goldsmith, “the laws of nature are a formulation of the best means to achieve the end of each man who desires to preserve himself. These are not categorical imperatives but hypothetical imperatives: if you want to preserve yourself, do this. Hobbes's presentation of the laws of nature in this way further favors his method; he has given the fearful man an object, and if the man wants that object, he has no choice but to use his method of reasoning. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get Custom EssayThe fundamental law of nature comes from the fearful man in the "state of nature" and his absolute and solitary desire to obtain and maintain the