Critique of Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan

Wright State University Modern Political Philosophy Essay 1 revue of Thomas Hobbess Leviathan Wes Miller PHL 432 Donovan Miyasaki 10/9/2012 Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher best known for his 1651 text Leviathan. In Leviathan Hobbes suggests that humans nature is one of competition, diffidence, and glory. I will argue against this assertion, claiming that human nature is non one of fight and mistrust, but one of cooperation and collaboration. I will conclude by stating that man work together to achieve the common goal of survival, happiness, and advancement of the human race.Hobbes begins his explanation of the state of nature in chapter 13 of Leviathan by stating that either men atomic number 18 equal in nature. Although one man may be stronger or more intelligent than an separate, creation are relatively equal in separately way because of their ability to manipulate and form alliances For as to the strength of body, the weakest has strength enough to kill the stro ngest, either by secret machination, or by fusion with others, that are in the compar commensurate danger as himself. 1 Because men are all equal, Hobbes believed that they desire the same things. If two men share the same desire, they become enemies.If all men are equal, at that place is no way for one man to be overpower of all other men. If a virtuoso man were to attempt to gain power over all other men, he would be overthrown by those he was trying to have power over. Considering that all are naturally equal, and all naturally desire the same things, the nature of man, according to Hobbes, is war So that in the nature of man, we find three spark advance causes of quarrel. First, competition secondly, diffidence thirdly, glory (293). In this constant state of war thither is no desire for any technological advancements or culture because on that point would be no use for either.Many other aspects of smell are thrown aside as well no navigation, nor use of the commodities t hat may be merchandise by sea no commodious building no instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force no knowledge of the face of the dry land no account of time no arts no letters no society and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death and the life of man, solitarily, poor, nasty, brutish, and short (293). Hobbes claims that in this state of nature, there is no place for any type of justice or understanding of right and wrong.Because there is no society, there is no agreement on any type of guidelines between men. Because there are no guidelines, there is no way to be unjust. Therefore, every pull through in the state of nature is just. For example, it is perfectly just to steal from someone if they hold something that you desire (such as food, shelter, etc. ) Hobbes goes on to explain that the only reasons that humans would be in a state of ataraxis would be the fear of death and the desire for commodious living. Hobbes gives a very pessimistic view of human nature.If his claims that the human nature is one of competition, diffidence, and glory were correct, the world that we live in today would be impossible to achieve. If every man was constantly at war with every other man as Hobbes claims, there would be absolutely no room for any technological advancement. He says this himself In such condition, there is no place for industry because the fruit thereof is uncertain (293). If what Hobbes claims is true, the human race would non even exist. Mankind would have destroyed itself before it was able to create any kind of society.Simply by looking back at how the world evolved to be the way it is today, anyone can see that the human race as a whole has been extremely successful. Humans worked together, formed alliances, and constantly took steps to achieve a more balanced society. Although many of these attempts have been unsuccessful, they were still attempts nonetheless. The detail that the advancement of society was even attempted settles that humans had to have worked together. I agree with Hobbess view that no man can be master of all men, but I do, however, believe that some men can be masters of some men.For example, the monarchial systems of England and China were successful for thousands of years. Humans have a pack mentality, much like wolves. Some are leaders, and others are followers, this has been true since the dawn of man. There have always been chieftains, kings, and presidents leading a theme of other humans. Because of this system, all men are not entirely equal. Some men have power over other men. The situations in which men can be at peace with each other is ex impressly what Hobbes said, fear of death, but is it not true that all men fear death?If man did not fear death, the human race would die out. There has to be a fear of death in order to survive. So, if there must be a fear of death to survive, and all men have a natural fear death, would this not mean tha t mans nature is one of peace? One might argue that the societies in place today are constantly at war with each other, that societies are groups of people acting as an individual, proving that Hobbess idea of a human nature in which we are constantly at war is correct. I would reply, however, with another question.Isnt society a result of a mass amount of collaboration between human beings? Because the societies at war are made up of a large group of people acting as an individual, one can come to the conclusion that before societies were created, there was only cooperation. If human nature is one of constant dispute and mistrust, societies could not have been created in the first place. So, if before society existed there was only cooperation, one could say that society itself is the cause of all conflict, the opposite of Hobbess suggestion.I have argued that Hobbess idea of the human nature being one of constant conflict and mistrust is false. Humans have always trusted each oth er and worked together to advance the species as a whole. If there wasnt cooperation before society, society would have never existed at all. Hobbes states that human nature does not allow industrial advancement, but industrial advancement has obviously been achieved. He claims that man can only be at peace when he fears death, moreover men naturally fear death, therefore mans nature is one of peace.The fact that Societies are constantly at war does not prove Hobbess theory correct, it does the opposite. Societies are a result of humans working together, therefore human nature is one of cooperation. It is difficult to know how humans would act in a complete state of nature, but merely the fact that man exists today is proof that our nature is not one of war. 1. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, in Political Philosophy The Essential Texts, ed. Steven M. Cahn (New York Oxford, 2011), 293