POLI 107 1st Edition Lecture 9 Modern Political Theory Hobbes Backdrop for Leviathan Leviathan was written during the English Civil War 1642 1651 Fought between monarchists and those who wanted to expand the powers of Parliament For a short period England was governed as a Commonwealth led by Oliver Cromwell a puritanical revolutionary leader Hobbes aim in writing Leviathan o Legitimize absolute monarchy Hobbes System of Thought Based upon scientific method popular in 17th century Driven by deduction and logic rather than empirical observations Start with simple questions and then build only on what has been proven o Known as syllogism Example o Claim 1 All people eventually die o Claim 2 Socrates is a person o Therefore Socrates being a person will eventually die Start by analyzing the correctness of the first two principle claims The conclusion is valid because the first two claims that derive the conclusion are valid Technique is deductive rather than empirical make bad assumptions the theory collapses Hobbes Materialism Wanted to account for all phenomena in the natural world including human behavior Unifying theory of all observable events not simply a theory of politics Hobbes science of politics grounded in materialism the physical world is a mechanical system that operates according to geometrical precision Like a game of pool the order of the universe reflects the arrangement of billiard balls change occurs due to their movement To understand human behavior and politics one needs to uncover the forces behind human movement and action Understanding Human Behavior Understanding behavior begins with the motions of bodies which in turn generate sensations Two basic types o Desire o Aversion People move on the basis of these feelings desire makes us move to the things we want From desire and aversion Hobbes explains more complex human emotions and behavior such as love hate happiness sadness hope despair and good bad o Fundamentally a psychological theory Law of Self Preservation The body is instinctively programmed to preserve itself Thus self preservation is a natural law that exists prior to social interaction All humans are subject to this instinctual compulsion The survival instinct is universal pervasive and never ending Self preservation is the highest moral good Hobbes Egoism The body also compels us to pursue our self interests egoism Hobbes novelty he arrives at egoism through materialism rather than common sense like Machiavelli Egoism shapes social interactions because all humans seek to preserve themselves and acquire the things they want Creates a competitive dangerous social environment we must constantly secure ourselves against harm and death Chief means to this end POWER The pursuit of power is all consuming which limits what we can do with our time and abilities State of nature humans are constantly at odds against each other o Life is solitary poor nasty brutish and short People are roughly equal to each other physically and mentally difficult to achieve order amidst the chaos Relative equality promotes warlike competition for things we want including survival No moral order can resolve this competition or the threats we face o We are each authors of our own moral systems Hobbes State of Nature War is the dominant state of social relations in nature o It is our only rational option The state of war is not a constant state of fighting o The state of war entails the mere threat of violence and bodily harm The state of war makes the state of nature sub optimal Intense competition lowers the bar o We must use our higher faculties to survive rather than better our lives We exchange a higher quality of life for continuous fear and the danger of violent death Tragedy of the Human Condition In the state of nature we tend to overlook what we lose by competing with each other and become comfortable with dissociative behavior o People can t imagine the world being any other way A Way Out Human nature is characterized by both desire and reason Reason helps to regulate our actions and find better ways to obtain the things we desire Reason shows us that self preservation is best and most efficiently achieves under conditions of peace which can only be ensured by civil society Entering civil society Law of Nature Peace Laws of nature convey what a reasonable person would do if he or she considered relations with others impartially with an eye toward their own security The laws of nature promote peace as the optimal condition for survival Peace and Freedom Peace requires mutual confidence in each other but our absolute freedom in the state of nature makes this unlikely People must realize this and voluntarily surrender their absolute freedom so that everyone may feel safe As we enter into civil society reason makes self restraint possible but there is still room for disagreement about the limits of individual behavior Hobbes expresses a rather dim view of human tendencies passions tend to overwhelm reason As a result we are likely to struggle with interpreting the laws of nature free from bias Even as we recognize the value of civil society it remains difficult to trust each other To make things work there must be a significant transfer of power to the state from the individual Leviathan When people cannot trust each other the solution is to take the power to decide outcomes away from them and give it to the Leviathan who also has the power to enforce and coerce A social contract transfers power to the Leviathan Life under Leviathan represents a qualitative improvement from the state of nature We may surrender a great deal of freedom to govern our affairs but we gain greater opportunities to pursue our interests that do not conflict with others Any social contract is useless without the capacity to punish those who transgress o Covenants without the sword are but words and of no strength to secure a man at all Fear of punishment makes men sociable and obedient The power to coerce is held by the Leviathan exclusively The contract is broken when the Leviathan can no longer enforce its will and secure peace The Leviathan is an artificial entity comprised of individual wills o It is a mortal God whose power cannot be questioned Leviathan can represent any form of government o Any government that secures peace restores the laws of nature and is therefore legitimate and reasonable Governments are not permanent The chief inconvenience is disobedience The ignorance and passions