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Lecture notes of 3 pages for the course Political Theory From Hobbes at UoW
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Week 2 – Hobbes On Conflict in the State of NatureReading
Secondary Reading - Alan Ryan, “Hobbes’ Political Philosophy” in The Cambridge
Companion to Hobbes. (https://0-www-cambridge-org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/core/
services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/
9F049744901241C346B96A81ABDD8105/9781139000710c09_p208-245_CBO.pdf/
hobbess_political_philosophy.pdf
Hobbes disagrees with Aristotle that “man is an animal made to live in a polis”.
Hobbes disagrees with this and in contrast says that – states are artificial and non-
natural.
Moreover, he says that men are not political by nature like animals are and men
live together only on the basis of agreed principles
Hobbes also talks about natural equality of men. Where Aristotle says that there is
a natural hierarchy starting from the good to the less good. Hobbes disagreed with
this and said that it violated the two conditions of political peace: one that we
should consider everyone our equal and second that everyone should acknowledge
the sovereign
State of nature: Hobbes says that the heads of all governments live in a state of
nature with respect to one another. It is a condition when we are forced into
contact with each other in the absence of a superior authority that lays down and
enforces rules.
However, there are many societies which have no stable leadership – hobbes says
that their existence is impossible to explain.
In the state of nature, he says we are governed by no rules, recognize no authority
and therefore are a threat to each other, and fall into the state he describes as a war
of all against all.
Hobbes theory – men are in an ungoverned condition; they are rational and are
able to calculate consequences. They are self-interested.
Each of us have a natural right and a duty to preserve ourselves – this right is an
equal right
Each of us is a potential threat to everyone else because of 3 reasons: state of
nature is a state of scarcity, leading to competition. The second is diffidence –
distrust. And the third is pride and vainglory
The first two reasons for conflict can be dealt with fairly easily, however not the
third.
The combined pressure of competition, diffidence and glory leads to the war of all
against all, and leads to life being poor, solitary, nasty, brutish and short.
To escape this condition institutions should be created to enforce rules and ensure
peace. To discover what those rules are is to discover the law of nature.
Lecture Notes
Hobbes defends an account of political authority that is absolutist- governments can
exercise power as the wish and we have the duty to obey their commands
Hobbes main conclusion is summarised as: Protection for Obedience
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