Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan Started It All

Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury was born today (5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679). Why should it be worth noting? He was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy - important, because his 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation for most of Western political philosophy of social contract theory. Although Hobbes was a champion of absolutism for the sovereign, he was the founder of modern political philosophy and developed some of the fundamentals of European liberal thought : the rights of the individual; the natural equality of all men, the artificial character of the political order (which led to the later distinction between civil society and the state); the view that all legitimate political power must be "representative" and based on the consent of the people; and a liberal interpretation of law which leaves people free to do whatever the law does not explicitly forbid. His account of human nature as self-interested cooperation, and of political communities as being based upon a "social contract" remains one of the major topics of political philosophy. The State, it seemed to Hobbes, might be regarded as a great artificial man or monster (Leviathan) composed of men, with a life that might be traced from its creation under the pressure of human needs to its dissolution through civil strife proceeding from human passions. The work closed with a general "Review and Conclusion," in direct response to the Cromwellian English Civil War (1642 to 1653), which resulted in the brief period in which England was a Commonwealth and not a monarchy (from the execution of Charles I in 1649 to the Restoration and coronation of Charles II in 1661), and which raised the question of the subject's right to change allegiance when a former sovereign's power to protect was irrevocably lost. Hobbes, exiled in Paris along with many Royalists, was for a time the tutor of Charles II. Hobbes' great work appeared in 1651, under the title of "Leviathan, or the Matter, Forme, and Power of a Common Wealth, Ecclesiasticall and Civil," with a famous title-page engraving in which, from behind hills overlooking a landscape, towered the body of a crowned giant, made up of tiny figures of human beings and bearing sword and crozier in the two hands. The work had immediate impact. Soon Hobbes found himself more praised and decried than any other thinker of his time. However, the first effect of its publication was to sever his link with the exiled Royalists, forcing him to appeal to the revolutionary English government for protection. The Anglican exiles might very well have killed him, being greatly angered by the secularist spirit of his book, as were his French aristocratic patrons for its rejection of the theory of the divine right of kings. Hobbes finally sought Cromwell's protection, submitted to his Commonwealth authority and was allowed to return to London and assume a quiet private life. ~~~~~ During his time in Paris, Hobbes tried to answer the question - why do people allow themselves to be ruled and what would be the best form of government for England. In the Leviathan, Hobbes answered the question : people are naturally wicked and can not be trusted to govern. Therefore, Hobbes believed that an absolute monarchy - a government that gave all power to a king or queen - is best. Hobbes had a pessimistic view of human nature, believing that humans were basically selfish creatures who would do anything to better their position. Left to themselves, he thought, people would act on their evil impulses, and, therefore, they should not be trusted to make decisions on their own. In addition, Hobbes felt that nations, like people, were selfishly motivated. For Hobbes, each country was in a constant battle for power and wealth. To prove his point, Hobbes asked, "if human beings are not always in a state of war, why do they always carry arms and why do they have keys to lock their doors?" Governments were created, according to Hobbes, to protect people from their own selfishness and evil. The best government was one that had the great power of a leviathan (the Biblical sea monster). Hobbes believed in the rule of a king because he thought a country needed an authority figure to provide direction and leadership. Because the people were only interested in promoting their own self-interests, Hobbes believed democracy - allowing citizens to vote for government leaders - would never work (an idea later found in Edmund Burke's writings). Consequently, giving power to the individual would create a dangerous situation that would start a "war of every man against every man" and make life "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Despite his distrust of democracy, Hobbes believed that a diverse group of representatives presenting the problems of the common person might prevent a king from being cruel and unfair. During Hobbes' lifetime, business began to have a big influence on government. Those who could contribute money to the government were given great status, and business interests were very powerful. In order to offset the growing power of business, Hobbes believed that an individual could be heard in government by authorizing a representative to speak on their behalf. In fact, Hobbes created the phrase "voice of the people." However, this "voice" was merely heard and not necessarily listened to - final decisions lay with the king. For Hobbes, fear of violent death is the principal motive that causes people to create a state by contracting to surrender their natural rights and to submit to the absolute authority of a sovereign. Hobbes believed that the original state of human beings did not include government. He felt that the power of the sovereign was derived originally from the people (thus challenging the doctrine of the divine right of kings), but that once ceded to a sovereign, the sovereign's power is absolute and not subject to review by either subjects or ecclesiastical powers. ~~~~~ Dear readers, Thomas Hobbes' materialist and highly pessimistic philosophy was denounced in his own day, but it has had a continuing influence on Western political thought. The idea of a social contract was first developed by Plato, but was overshadowed in Christian Europe by the powerful combination of the Church and feudal kings. But, Hobbes' focus on, and re-evaluation of, the concept of the social contract led to investigations by other political theorists, notably Locke, Spinoza, and Rousseau, who created their own radically different theories of the social contract. Jean Jacques Rousseau and John Locke each took the social contract theory one step further. Rousseau wrote "Principles of Political Right," in which he explained that a government is based on the idea of popular sovereignty. Thus the will of the people as a whole gives power and direction to the state. John Locke also based his political writings on the idea of the social contract. But, he stressed the role of the individual. He also believed that revolution was not just a right but an obligation if the state abused the given power. Obviously these ideas had a huge impact on the American Founding Fathers, especially Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. So, the next time you read the Declaration of Independence, think not only of Jefferson's use of John Locke's ringing phrases about liberty and power being derived from the people. Think about Thomas Hobbes, who started it all in 1651.