Thomas Hobbes Authoritarian State 03 19 2013 Advocated absolutism an all powerful supreme state People need to be ruled by a supreme authority for their own Born prematurely during the Spanish attack invasion of England protection thus he advocated peace Charged of being a royalist for advocated sovereignty of the king Chaos anarchy of the English Civil War confirmed his faith in absolute rule of a monarch Power helps obtain something in the future man constantly works toward maintaining gaining power Social Contract Theory State is man made not God gifted Human Nature o Men driven by impulse like animals only diff is man has the faculties of speech reason o Man is self centered egotistical self seeking competitive o Human nature is to acquire unlimited power o All men are equal in body mind but diff in strength capacity share desires become enemies o Fear is motivation for human conduct o Only the all powerful state can curb man s egotistic impulses The State of Nature o Life was solitary poor short constant war fear danger violence o Men dominated by fear self interest o No industry knowledge arts society no law justice property good bad o No common power to guide control man o Man wanted peace but was constantly trying to retain what he had keep it from others so it created conflict o Men contracted to form a civil society obtain peace security Nature of Contract o Society s role is to ensure security certainty of life property o Social mutual indivs surrendered rights to a man group of men thus became the subjects of the sovereign o Binding obey the commands o Sovereign not a party to the contract complete authority people could not protest Sovereignty of the State o Necessary in civil society o Is not limited by any rival authority has no obligations toward his subjects o Sole interpreter source of the law o Not bound by any constitutional law checks balances moral restraints separation of power o What conforms w the sovereign is right what doesn t is wrong he can never be morally wrong o Can t take away property tax w o people s consent Advocacy of Absolutism o To divide sovereignty is to destroy it the way the King did w o Authority should be in a single power king council assembly Parliament w one voice o Leviathan crocodile who ruled in the Old Testament o Absolute monarchy no diff b t state gov Authoritarianism vs Totalitarianism Hobbes had a contract totalitarians don t have gov Hobbes justified individualism totalitarians don t care for indivs Hobbes said all will be equal in the law totalitarian is based on Sovereign is supreme only in political matters totalitarians control supreme race all aspects of life No glorification of war totalitarians say war is necessary 03 19 2013 03 19 2013