2016 hobbes state of nature and contract - dublin · • man appetitive desirous creature •seeks...

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Thomas Hobbes:State of Nature and Democracy

Dr Cathal Coleman

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Contents

§ Human Nature§ State of Nature§ Hobbes’s Individualism§ Causes of Conflict§ How to Avoid State of

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Learning Objectives§ At the End of Lecture You Will Be

Able to:§ Understand Hobbes’s Account of

the State of Nature§ Evaluate the Relationship between

Democracy and Power


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Biographical Sketch


§ 1588: Born Malmesbury Wiltshire§ 1602 – 1608: Oxford (BA)§ 1608: Tutoring/Aide Cavendishes/Earls of

Devonshire§ 1619: Worked with Francis Bacon§ 1629: Published Translation of Thucydides§ 1636: Visited Galileo in Florence§ 1640: Completed Elements of Law§ 1642: English Civil War. Hobbes Royalist. Publishes

De Cive§ 1649: Charles 1 Executed. Civil War Ends§ 1651: Publishes Leviathan – Excluded from Court§ 1655-58: Publishes De Corpore, De Homine§ 1660 - 1666: Restoration. Bill Introduced to

Prosecute Hobbes for Atheism§ 1668: Published Opera and Latin translation of

Leviathan§ 1670: Completed Behemoth§ 1679: Died Hardwick Derbyshire aged 91

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Major Works

Leviathan 1651 Behemoth - 1679

De Cive - 1642

Completed 1640. Published 1889

Man: Always in Motion


§ Hobbes’s Man is an Automaton:§ Self-moving§ Self-directed§ Alters Motion in Response to Differences

in Material…§ … And in response to Impact of Other

Matter

Man: Always in Motion


§ Hobbes’s Man is an Automaton§ The Machine’s Equipment

§ Senses§ Imagination§ Language§ Reason


English Civil War: The Crucial Historical Event


§ King (Charles 1) v Parliament§ Cavaliers v Roundheads

§ King Overbearing Prodded Parliament into Action

§ Parliamentarians Win:§ Charles 1 Beheaded

§ Estimated 200,000 Die24/02/2016 Hobbes Contract&StateofNature 12

English Civil War: 1642-1651

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§ Divine Right of Kings (or Sovereign)

§ Rights of Parliament against Crown

§ Breakdown of Relationships§ All Out War


Key Issues in Civil War The State of Nature Stated§ And the life of man: solitary, poor,

nasty, brutish and short


Equality: The Characteristics

§ Equality in Physical Attributes§ Equality in Mental Characteristics§ The Quality of Hope§ Equality of Ends


• Men Equal in Physical Attributes:– “… When all is reckoned together, the differences between man

and man is not so considerable…” [p.60]

State of Nature: Equality Key Feature


• Men Equal in Physical Attributes:

• Mentally Equal Too:

• “I find yet a greater equality… than strength.” [60]



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• Mentally

• Hope (Outlook)Characterises All:

• " From this equality of ability,ariseth equality of hope in the attainment of our Ends.” [60]




• Mentally:

• Hope (Outlook) Also:

• Desiring Similar Ends Leads to Conflict – Repeated Conflict




Freedom in State of Nature

§ Right to Life Supercedes All Others



§ Right to Life Supercedes All Others§ Liberty: “absence of externall

Impediments”



§ Right to Life Supercedes All Others§ Liberty: “absence of externall

Impediments”§ Impediments Derive Residual Liberty:

§ “Which Impediments may oft take away part of a man’s power to do what hee would; but cannot hinder him from using the power left him…”[64]


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But, Freedom Breeds Insecurity§ Every Man has a Right to Do

Everything


But, Freedom Breeds Insecurity§ Every Man has a Right to Do Everything § Leads to Insecurity

§ Two Laws Derive:§ “…every man ought to endeavour Peace as farre

as he has hope of obtaining it” [65]


But, Freedom Breeds Insecurity

§ Every Man has a Right to Do Everything § Leads to Insecurity

§ Two Laws Derive:§ “…every man ought to endeavour Peace as

farre as he has hope of obtaining it” [65]§ “That a man be willing… to lay down this

right to all things…” [65]


Freedom: From...

§ Laws§ Chains § Judging of Right and Wrong


Freedom: From and To

§ Laws§ Chains § Judging of Right and Wrong§ No Right or Wrong!§ ‘where there is no common power there is

no injustice’


Freedom: From and To

§ Laws§ Chains § Judging of Right and Wrong§ No Right or Wrong!§ To:

§ Buying and Selling§ Family


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§ All Human Actions Motivated by Self-Interest§ Every Voluntary Act Something I Desire to Do


Hobbes: Psychological Egoism

§ All Human Actions Motivated by Self-Interest§ Every Voluntary Act Something I Desire to Do§ Hobbes: War Natural Condition of Mankind:

§ “Every Man has a Right to everything” [64]§ “Every man ought to endeavour Peace …and when he

cannot attain it he may seek and use all advantages of Warre.” [65]



§ All Human Actions Motivated by Self-Interest§ Every Voluntary Act Something I Desire to Do§ Hobbes: War Natural Condition of Mankind:§ Peace – Merely a Residual State



§ State of War:§ Result of Psychological Drives?


Psychological Egoism II


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• Barbarism the Norm not the Exception

• Man Appetitive Desirous Creature

§ Barbarism the Norm: Not the Exception

§ Man: Appetitive Creature


Hobbes Inverts Prevailing View on Nature• Barbarism the Norm not the Exception• Man Appetitive Desirous Creature• Seeks Power Constantly– “The Power of a Man… is his present means to achieve

some future apparent Good.” [41]


Hobbes Inverts Prevailing View

• Hobbes Inverts Prevailing View.



• Seeks Power Constantly– “The Power of a Man… is his present means to achieve

some future apparent Good.” [41]– “Natural Power … Eminence of the faculties of Body or

Mind…– Instrumental Power “…Means and Instruments to

acquire more… [41]

• Hobbes Inverts Prevailing View.



• Seeks Power Constantly– “The Power of a Man… is his present means to achieve some

future apparent Good.” [41]

– “Natural Power … Eminence of the faculties of Body or Mind…

– Instrumental Power “…Means and Instruments to acquire more… [41]


Hobbes Inverts Prevailing View• Competition the Norm

• Individuals Desire Same Things•No Rules of the Game – No Right or Wrong•Violence Necessary

• “to make themselves Masters of other men’s persons…” [62]


Conflict in the State of Nature

Conflict in the State of Nature

• Competition• Go for Pre-emptive Strike

§ Safety First is Best:§ ‘defending wives children and cattel’


Conflict in the State of Nature• Competition

• Diffidence

• Glory – the Crucial Ingredient§ Reputation§ Violence ”for trifles … a word, a smile, § a different opinion” [62]§ Scarcity or Abundance Can Drive

Desires


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Warre

§ Result of Men Living Without a Common Power ‘to keep them in awe’


Warre

• Result of Men Living Without a Common Power ‘to keep them in awe’

• General Disposition – Not ‘in battell only’


Warre

• Result of Men Living Without a Common Power ‘to keep them in awe’

• General Disposition – Not ‘in battell only’

• Every man an Enemy to Each Other

• “No Place for Industry …24/02/2016 Hobbes Contract&StateofNature 45 24/02/2016 9:ProjectClosure 46

§ Seek Peace§ Lay Down Arms – If

Others Do


How Do You Avoid State of War?§ Seek Peace§ Lay Down Arms – If Others Do§ Logical That Each Will Accept

Proposition: ‘Each Has a Fundamental Right to Preserve Himself’

§ Follow Covenants


How Do You Avoid State of War?

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§ Fear of Death§ Fear of Death Overrides what otherwise is a

free for all


Why Seek Peace?

§ Fear of Death§ Fear of Death Overrides what otherwise is a

free for all§ Laying Down Arms Right

§ Right Not Guaranteed – Absence of Impediment§ Doesn’t Mean Giving it to Someone§ Non-exercise of the Right: “To devest himselfe of the

Liberty, of hindring another of the benefit of his own right”


Why Seek Peace?

Review§ We Have Learned:§ State of Nature§ Hobbes’s Individualism§ Freedom

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§ Minimal State§ Keep Peace and Avoid Harming Others

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Background Assumptions§ Hobbes: Self-preservation

Overrides All Needs

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Background Assumptions

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§ Therefore: Subjects Grant Sovereign Unlimited Rights to Ensure Preservation

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Background Assumptions Features of Hobbes’s Sovereign

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§ Subsumes All§ Leviathan or Mortal God

Features of Hobbes’s Sovereign

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§ Subsumes All§ Leviathan or Mortal God§ “One Person, of whose Acts a great Multitude,

by mutuall Covenants one with another… he may use the strength and means of them all, as he shall think expedient, for their Peace…” [88]


58

§ Subsumes All§ Leviathan or Mortal God§ Indivisible - No Independent Sources

of Power – cf Parliament in England§ Judges All


59

§ Subsumes All§ Leviathan or Mortal God§ Indivisible - No Independent Sources of Power – cf

Parliament in England

§ Responsible for All – Peace§ “there is always a duty towards the

legislator, whose continuing authority ensures peace.” (Malcolm, 1991: 540)

Implications of Hobbes’s Sovereign

60

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61

§ Can’t Break Covenant§ Self- Perpetuating


62

§ Can’t Break Covenant§ Sovereign is God’s

Intermediary: § “…there is no Covenant with

God, but by mediation of some body that representeth God’s person, which none doth but God’s Lieutenant, who hath the Sovereignty under God.” [89]


63

§ Can’t Break Covenant§ Sovereign is God’s

Intermediary: § Dissent Not Allowed

§ You are Forced to be Free § Anticipates Rousseau?

§ Guarantees Security

64

The Sovereign: What’s in it for Me?

§ Guarantees Security§ Equality – Kind Of

65


§ Guarantees Security§ Equality – Kind Of§ Citizen Retains:

§ Rights to Self-defence§ Residual Liberty

66


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Sovereign: But What Do I Lose?

67


68

§ Right of Action


69

§ Right of Action§ Right to Judge

§ Sovereign Alone Can Judge –§ Charles I & Ship Money


70

§ Right of Action§ Right to Judge

§Covenant Requires Absolute Obedience:


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§ Right of Action§ Right to Judge § Covenant Requires

Absolute Obedience:§ “For the Lawes of Nature

(…Justice, Equity, Modesty, Mercy…doing to others as wee would be done to)… without the terrour of some Power… are contrary to our naturall Passions…” [85]

§ “And Covenants without the Sword are but Words, and of no strength to secure a man at all.” [85]

72

Losses: Enforcing the Covenant

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§ A. J. Simmons:§ “Political obligations are the moral obligations of

citizens to support and comply with the requirements of their political authorities…” (Routledge EP, 1988)

74

Defining Obligation

§ A. J. Simmons:§ Hobbes:

§ “A man… Ought, and it is his DUTY, not to make voyd that voluntary act of his own…such hindrance is INJUSTICE and INJURY…” [65]

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Defining Obligation

§ A. J. Simmons:§ Hobbes:§ Problem:

§ Understanding why (or if):§ citizens in various kinds of states are bound by

such obligations

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Defining Obligation

§ Physical§ Moral§ Prudential

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Features of Obligation

§ Motive is: § “security of a man’s person, in his life

and in the means of so preserving life, as not to be weary of it.”

78

Obligation: Physical

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§ Motive is: § Negatively:

§ Fear of Death – Saving One’s Skin

§ Other Concepts – Honour etcWon’t Wash

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Obligation: Physical

§ Obedience to God’s Law§ Yet, Hobbes’s a Secular Contract –

King Determines

80

Obligation: Moral

§ Obedience to God’s Law§ Keeping Promises

§ Hobbes’s Further Law of Nature:§ “Every man is bound by Nature… to protect in Warre,

the Authority, by which he is protected in time of Peace.” [390]

81

Obligation: Moral

§ Obedience to God’s Law§ Keeping Promises

§ Hobbes’s Further Law of Nature:§ Ought I Keep Promises?

82

Obligation: Moral

§ Hypothetical or Actual?

83

Obligation: Prudential

§ Hypothetical or Actual§ If Actual:

§ How Can it Hold?§Can it be Implemented?

84


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§ Hypothetical or Actual§ If Actual:

§ Logical? Founding Contract?§ Confidence in

Sovereign?§ Based on Fear

85


§ Hypothetical or Actual§ Logical? Founding Contract?§ Based on Benefits

§ Hobbes Dismisses Atheistic Foole (Free Rider):

§ Because All So Desire Safety –

86


§ Hypothetical or Actual§ Logical? Founding Contract?§ Based on Benefits

§ Hobbes Dismisses Atheistic Foole (Free Rider):

§ Because All So Desire Safety –

§ Consequences of Failure (of All Agreeing) Are Too Great

87

Obligation: Prudential Critique

§ Contract – Hypothetical or Actual

§ Right to Self-Defence v Right of Sovereign

§ Marxist – Hobbes a Theory of and for Possessive Market Society§ This type of society is morally

questionable (Macpherson, 1962: 106)88


§ Blaug, R. & J.J. Schwarzmantel, 2001. Democracy: A Reader, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

§ Dahl, R.A., I. Shapiro & J.A. Cheibub, 2003. The Democracy Sourcebook, Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.

§ Plamenatz, J., 1963. Man and Society: A Critical Examination of Some Important Social and Political Theories from Machiavelli to Marx, London: Longmans.

§ Plamenatz, J., 1963. Man and Society: A Critical Examination of Some Important Social and Political Theories from Machiavelli to Marx, London: Longmans.

§ Ryan, A., 2012. The Making of Modern Liberalism: Princeton University Press.


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§ BBC History of Ideas: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05pqskp

§ In Our Time: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003k9l1


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