HOBBES: APPRAISAL OF HIS MORAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

2003

The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) is best known for his political thought, and deservedly so. His vision of the world is strikingly original and still relevant to contemporary politics. His main concern is the problem of social and political order: how human beings can live together in peace and avoid the danger and fear of civil conflict. He poses stark alternatives: we should give our obedience to an unaccountable sovereign (a person or group empowered to decide every social and political issue). Otherwise what awaits us is a "state of nature" that closely resembles civil war – a situation of universal insecurity, where all have reason to fear violent death and where rewarding human cooperation is all but impossible.

2014

Nwogu Peter, 2025

Hobbes's political theory begins with his representation of the state of nature, a hypothetical condition in which individuals exist without a formal government or social contract. He argues that in this natural state, individuals are driven by self-preservation and are inherently in conflict with one another. This leads to a “war of all against all,” where life is characterized by constant fear, insecurity, and violence. According to Hobbes, human beings are motivated by basic instincts and desires, including the pursuit of self-interest and the avoidance of harm. To escape the chaos of the state of nature, Hobbes proposes the formation of a social contract, in which individuals collectively agree to surrender certain freedoms and submit to a sovereign authority. This sovereign he called “Leviathan," possesses absolute power to maintain order and enforce laws. The social contract, therefore, is the foundation of political legitimacy and social cohesion. His social contract theory and advocacy for absolute sovereignty remain central to debates in political philosophy and theory.

Philosophy Study, 2019

And in the same epistle, where I say of the civil philosophy: "It is no ancienter than my book De Cive"; these words are added: "I say it provoked, and that my detractors may see they lose their labour". But that which is truly said, and upon provocation, is not boasting but defence. A short sum of that book of mine, now publicly in French, done by a gentleman I never saw, carrieth the title of Ethics Demonstrated. The book itself translated into French, hath not only a great testimony from the translator Sorberius, but also from Gassendus, and Mersennus, who being both of the Roman religion had no cause to praise it, or the divines of England have no cause to find fault with it. ("Six Lessons", 1656, p. 333; the French In an age when political thinkers were writing books full of quotations of ancient and modern authors, Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury (1588-1679) developed a philosophical system which was based on scientific method rather than on the authority of books. He emphasized that the absurdities that philosophers fall into are actually due precisely to a lack of method and to the habit of quoting other thinkers as if the truth was to be found in their words. It is certainly not inappropriate to read what philosophers, historians, and poets wrote, whether for pure amusement or to find intellectual spurs useful for one's own research and speculation; but the written word should not be confused with the truth. In the investigation aimed at discovering the truth in political matters, the philosopher must use his own intellect, relying on the strength of reasoning. Thus, political philosophy becomes a science: the science of "consequences from the accidents of politic bodies". With his reflections on scientia civilis, Thomas Hobbes may be considered the inventor of political science.

This is a translation of Leo Strauss, “Quelques remarques sur la science politique de Hobbes,” in Recherches Philosophiques (1933: 2), 609-22. It is translated from the French by Murray S. Y. Bessette. Note the French text is a translation by Alexandre Kojève of the original German, which can be found in Leo Strauss, Gesammelte Schriften, 6 Bde., Bd.3, Hobbes' politische Wissenschaft und zugehörige Schriften, Briefe, m. Sonderdruck von Bd.1 für die Subskribenten, ed. Heinrich Meier (Germany: Metzler, 2001). In light of the fact that Leo Strauss was close to and friendly with Alexandre Kojève and that he read French, I presume the French is a very good (although necessarily imperfect) reflection of Strauss’ authorial intent. Moreover, insofar as the article in question was only available in French until 1999 (a full 66 years), the French text remains of some interest, especially as there may be significant divergences, either omissions or additions, from the German. Thus, I would invite anyone with sufficient proficiency in German to make the necessary comparison.

Unpublished, 2006

Free download. Unpublished. 100 pages. Sixteen recommendations and over 385 reads on ResearchGate as of January 17, 2025. This is a law school student paper I wrote for Don Regan’s and Joseph Raz’s jointly taught political philosophy course at the University of Michigan School of Law in 1994. I finished editing it for my Web site in 2006. The paper offers a theory of the state based on a theory of human nature and a theory of value, with Hume's is-ought inference problem solved in passing. Philosophers and others discussed include Aristotle, Epicurus, G. W. F. Hegel, Immanuel Kant, Frances Hutcheson, Abraham Maslow, John Paul Scott, Richard E. Leakey, Raymond Dart, Robert Ardrey, Leo Strauss, Panayot Butchvarov, H. P. Grice, P. F. Strawson, C. D. Broad, W. T. Stace, Ernest Barker, Robert Lodge, Henry Teloh, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, C. B. MacPherson, Herbert W. Schneider, Richard, S. Peters, Mortimer Adler, Irving R. Copi, Alan Gewirth, Charles Hampden-Turner, Wilhelm Windelband, Stewart Umphrey, Miriam M. Reik, Martin A. Bertman, Ernest Nagel, Richard Taylor, A. E. Taylor, John R. Searle, John H. Hick, Joseph Raz, C. S. Lewis, Robert Nisbet, Russell Kirk, and James Bond Stockdale. My "The Freedom of Morality" (a critical study of Joseph Raz's The Morality of Freedom), also on ResearchGate, is an independent companion paper written for the same course.

Journal of Humanities and Education Development (JHED), 2020

The state of nature of Hobbes is like a reflection of the depression of 1640s that prevailed in the United Kingdom. The basic concept that determines the state of nature is individuality. This phenomenon is the expression of individuality, the beginning of Renaissance but not of full competence, of expressing individuality, liberating oneself from doctrinal teachings and medieval conceptions. According to Hobbes, human beings are individuals who have the desire and choice to choose. The person's ability to use his will and preference determines his happiness or unhappiness. The emotions of feeling, fear, desire etc. which are the basic characteristics of human life, are not merely physical and factual phenomenon, but a moral phenomenon that becomes evident by loving, enjoying or disliking, desiring or avoiding oneself. For Hobbes, human life is competition and struggle. As a creature that thinks of the future, human beings are constantly struggling to secure their future ambitions. It is the basic survival condition of a person that wants to be sovereign. It is inevitable that people who are equal in terms of physical and mental force will fight everyone in natural condition. This paper tries to elucidate Thomas Hobbes' understandings of the concepts of philosophy, state and state of nature. This article will further try to shed light on the Thomas Hobbes's views on International Relations.

British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 2017

"This paper seeks to trace the ways in which Christianity, in particular 17th century Calvinist theology, influenced and shaped the thinking and writings of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury. The writings of Hobbes, especially the Leviathan, continue to be highly influential texts for political theory and thought today, especially as it informed the emergence of modern secular states, the development of social contract theory, natural law, and the rise of political rights and responsibilities of citizens in a liberal state. Most of this Hobbesian influence on contemporary politics is derived from readings of Hobbes as a secular political theorist (either areligious or an atheist) who initiated a critical break from earlier theories of religious and monarchical rule, and opened the way for the emergency of modern political systems rooted in republican and parliamentarian principles of citizenship. “For the truth is that the way modern liberal democracies approach religion and politics today is unthinkable without the decisive break made by Thomas Hobbes” (Lilla 88). On this reading, the Leviathan is seen as the political handbook par excellence for modern secular and liberal state. I argue that this assertion, however, is a fundamental misreading of Hobbes and his writings. Not only should Hobbes be seen as a powerful Christian political theologian, but the entire project of Leviathan is one of reconciling religious and civil rule under the control of a Christian commonwealth (hence the subtitle: “The matter, forme, & power of a common-wealth ecclesiasticall and civill”). To read Hobbes as a secular theorist unconcerned or hostile to religion requires not only ignoring the historical context in which Hobbes was writing during and responding to in his works, but even more, to ignore his own words. While many of Hobbes's ideas about theology were certainly heterodox for his time, this very heterodoxy strengthens the case for Hobbes as a deeply committed political theologian."