The philosophy of Thomas Hobbes is perhaps the most revolutionary and unique philosophy of the seventeenth century. Hobbes had a unique vision of the world in all its components: society, politics, physics, religion and nature. Unlike his contemporaries, Hobbes managed to merge these otherwise divergent philosophical sciences into a single innovative philosophy. Hobbes is considered one of the greatest philosophers of all time, and rightly so. Many of his political and social theories are still valid. Although his attempt to explore science essentially failed, his ideas about its importance and relevance to other elements of life prevailed. His analysis of Christianity and other religions courageously challenged the beliefs of his time and influenced the development of religion in the future. Hobbes's most enduring theories concerned political and social problems. He explored the simplest path to peaceful coexistence among all humans and how humans could avoid civil conflicts. Hobbes's conclusions to these arcane questions were rooted in his personal fears and his belief that fear itself was the most important psychological factor in maintaining civil and social peace. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Much of Hobbes' personal fear is a result of the times in which he lived. On the day he was born, in 1588, the English people learned that the Spanish Armada was returning to England to attack. Upon learning of the disturbing day of his birth, Hobbes reportedly said, "Fear and I were born twins together." Leviathan was written to some extent out of Hobbes' fear of the unstable political condition in England during the time he was writing. Hobbes wrote Leviathan in the years between the English Civil Wars and it was actually published during the Commonwealth years. In the years that Hobbes was writing Leviathan it became known that Parliament would soon order the execution of Charles I. Since Hobbes was a royalist and an avid personal supporter of Charles I, and even guardian of his son, future king, Charles II, Hobbes he felt in danger of persecution. To escape persecution, Hobbes fled to France where he spent the next eleven years. Hobbes lived in one of the most tumultuous periods in British history. The Troubles in Britain had many components: political, religious, economic and militarily fragmented. Parliament was in aggressive conflict with the king, Catholics and Protestants openly persecuted each other, British citizens protested for a more equal division of wealth, and various geographic regions with conflicting beliefs in each of these categories challenged each other. Perhaps the universal instability that runs through all areas of life pushed Hobbes to create a philosophy that addressed and ultimately synthesized each of these problems into a single set of beliefs. Thus, Hobbes's conception of Hell on Earth in Leviathan as social and political unrest makes sense in the context of the times, as Hobbes had to deal with both on a regular basis. work, other philosophers, and philosophies of his time influenced Hobbes. Hobbes reacted vehemently against the scholastic tradition that emerged during the Middle Ages and the political ramifications of its widespread acceptance. Hobbes first encountered scholasticism in his Jesuit high school, where students were taught to use reason only for the purpose of strengthening faith in God. Hobbes particularly resented the scholastics' insistence on religious authority in government. As a philosopher, many years later, Hobbes completely reversed thisphilosophy in its frequent claims that theology should be kept separate from politics, especially in determining political authority and policy. Scholasticism forced Hobbes to construct something more feasible antithesis. Thus, his emphasis on the exclusion of God from the process of reason and philosophy emerged. Another of Hobbes' major influences was the newly developed scientific method that favored deductive reasoning rather than Aristotelian inductive reasoning. Hobbes's fascination with geometry and its contemporary re-emergence as an important science also shaped his method of reasoning and thinking. Hobbes placed great emphasis on working from first fundamental principles (established by God) to complex conclusions. Hobbes's mechanistic approach to reasoning is evident throughout Leviathan; for example, the entire text is written as a geometric proof. The first chapter establishes the first principles and appropriately examines the very nature of ideas; the ideas become progressively more complex and layered as the book progresses. Significantly, each principle established in Leviathan depends on the foundations established by previous principles. Hobbes relies on human perception based on the law of inertia and a materialistic perception of the universe. He then discusses the “desires,” “appetites,” and “aversions” tied to these same perceptions as the instigating actions of all voluntary and involuntary human behavior. From these causes of human behavior he finally moves on to the likely relationships between human beings and their broader societies. Mechanics of the Mind In the first part of the first book of Leviathan, Hobbes examines the mechanical processes involved in human thought. He proposes that sensory perception triggers the imagination which then activates a “train of thought”. One of the first points made by Hobbes is that human beings acquire knowledge of the external world through: The external body, or object, which presses the proper organ of each sense, either immediately, as in taste and touch; or mediately, as in seeing, hearing, and smelling; which pressure, through the mediation of the nerves and other cords and membranes of the body, continues inward to the brain and heart, causing there a resistance, or counter-pressure, or an effort of the heart to free itself, which strives , because towards the outside, it appears to be an external matter. This means that tangible objects in the universe engage the senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste), which start a chain reaction of movement until eventually the sensory perception becomes an intangible idea or sensation in the brain or heart . This process centers on the theory borrowed from Hobbes that once an object is in motion, it stays in motion until it encounters some kind of obstacle. Once the feeling reaches its final tangible destination, the brain or the heart, it has no other materialistic thing to transfer its movement to. This obstacle to physical inertia results in the transfer of movement from sensory perception to thoughts or imagination. Hobbes explains this process: “imagination therefore is nothing but the decay of the senses… the decay of the senses in waking men, is not the decay of the motion made in the senses; but a darkening of it.” He provides an example to clarify his theory. Hobbes suggests that the vision or image persists in the mind (distorted in the imagination) even after the “sensing apparatus” (the eyes) is blocked. Therefore, the immediate movement of the image that comes into contact with the eyes is still moving as a mediated movement that travels through the imagination. Continuing the transfer of movement, over time,this visual invention of the imagination becomes a memory. The imagination resulting from the initial sensory perception becomes understanding. For example, an eye perceives a daisy, the organs of the eye transmit this to the frontal lobe of the brain, which evaluates the meaning of the image and finally stores it as a memory based on its meaning for the perceiver. Feelings, correlations with other understandings, connotations, etc. associated with the darkened version of the original image constitute the understanding. Hobbes notes that both animals and humans have the mental capacity for understanding. "Because a dog will usually understand the call or evaluation of its owner." The point of distinction between the mental capacities of animals and humans is man's ability to understand the purpose for which he recalled the vision, as well as the conceptions and thoughts he previously and currently associated with the vision, as well as the sequence of thoughts which led him to recall the image and the sequence of thoughts that followed the memory. Hobbes calls this sequence of thoughts the “chain of thought.” Hobbes defines “chain of thought” as “that succession of one thought to another” which he refers to as mental discourse. He then goes on to describe the benefits of mental discourse. Memory, or "recall", allows man to reconstruct the path towards the desired end point, not just the desired one. Prudence allows man to avoid repeating the same mistake twice since he is able to recall the cause and consequences of that mistake from a recalled thought. Finally, the ability to remember a thought challenges metaphysics: ideas can become infinite. Hobbes' theory of the origin of thought follows a geometric and deductive thought process. His argument reads like a flowchart; each conclusion depends on the conclusion established before it, and the validity of each conclusion depends on the validity of each preceding conclusion. In essence, Hobbes suggests that thought comes from imagination, which comes from sense perception, which comes from some material object in the external world. His entire theory hinges on the concept of sustained motion and his assertion that matter cannot move on its own. However, there is a big hole in this theory that Hobbes cleverly sidesteps: what is the initial movement and what triggers it. He addresses this topic later in his book and suggests that these "first principles" are set in motion by the hand of God who then leaves any subsequent action until the motion is transferred through material collisions in the external world. This first section of Leviathan is important as a foundation for the rest of the book. He ingeniously establishes his preferred way of thinking and reasoning by providing an example within philosophy by forcing the reader to think deductively. To reach the conclusion, the reader must first understand the conclusions deduced along the way. Furthermore, Hobbes' method of reasoning is significantly centered on the existence and importance of the natural world and the human ability to perceive it. After all, without the natural world and man's subjective perception, no thought process would exist. This philosophy of the mechanics of the human mind is an interesting fusion of natural science, biological science, and psychological science, all dependent on each other for conclusion. Speech and the Foundation of Civil Peace: Unanimous Approval Hobbes's next section addresses verbal speech (of course, a logical step from the discussion of mental speech). Hobbes suggests that the word was invented as a continuation of motion transfer, to insert mental speech into theverbal speech. It introduces two advantages of this transferred movement: 1) “the recording of the consequences of our thoughts” which would otherwise have been forgotten. Assigning words to “imaginations,” “understandings,” “memories,” “trains of thought,” and conclusions function as “markers” for recall and effective communication. 2) “when many use the same words, to signify, by their connection and order, to one another, what they conceive, or think of each matter; and also what they desire, fear, or have any other passion for. In this case, words are called “signs” to represent ideas. Once again the law of inertia applies; lines of thought are transferred into words which are then transferred into a verbal dialogue which initiates an entirely separate line of thought in another mind. The most significant idea in this part of Hobbes' philosophy is the idea that those involved in communication must understand words according to common definitions, otherwise they are rendered ineffective and misdirect the transfer of motion. Next, Hobbes describes four uses and four abuses of the word. The uses of the word are: 1) allow humans to record knowledge which adds to the acquisition and retention of the arts. 2) Humans are capable of communicating this knowledge. 3) Humans are able to communicate intentions or needs and are therefore able to educate help. 4) Humans can entertain each other by playing with words. Hobbes then warns about the potential abuses of discourse: 1) potential for careless signification; definitions may change if words are used inappropriately or out of context. 2) There is danger in using metaphors; when words mean or represent other words a tool of deception can be used. 3) It can be used to lie or deceive other human beings. 4) It can be used to psychologically harm other human beings. The nature of the word and how it is used, for better or worse, depends on the “names and their connection.” Consistency in word definitions is extremely important to Hobbes. Concerning the necessity of definitions he says: Since truth consists in the right order of names in our statements, a man seeking precise truth needed to remember what each name he uses means, and place it accordingly, or he will. he finds himself entangled in words, like a bird in lime twigs, the more he struggles the more he is belittled. And therefore in geometry, which is the only science that it has pleased God to give to humanity so far, men begin to establish the meanings of their words; that arrangement of meanings which they call definitions and place them at the beginning of their calculation. Hobbes believes that this system of using universal definitions as the cornerstone of certainty is justifiable on the grounds that geometry, God's most revered science as evident in nature, is based on accepted definitions. Since everyone agreed on them, there is no room for conflict or controversy. With this statement, Hobbes now partially fills the gap left in his first section on the mechanics of the mind; it becomes clear that precise definitions of words are the foundation of the first principles of every thought process. This section on discourse also raises another important premise: truth is a social construction. Since definitions are the first principles of every thought process, and society not only establishes the definitions of words but also collectively approves them; therefore, conclusions are valid because society creates them. Hobbes also sees positive political consequences in this methodto establish words as the foundation of reason. As society endorses definitions as a unit, they are making governmental decisions together in a productive and peaceful manner. Therefore, the prerequisite for the common approval of words as the foundation of reason leads to civil peace and productivity. However, this conclusion leads to another gap in his argument: how to reach social consensus on definitions. Since Hobbes believes that knowledge cannot be found through the exploration of nature due to the fact that nature is perceived subjectively by each individual, Hobbes ultimately comes to the conclusion that definitions must be established by an arbiter who he will identify later in the book. The establishment of an omnipotent judge who has complete control over the foundations of reason is an extreme proposal. This notion of power concentrated in a single person or group of people becomes a substantial part of the Hobbesian evaluation of society and politics. ReasonReason, one of man's only abilities superior to animals, becomes another of Hobbes' key investigations. According to Hobbes, “reason…is nothing other than the calculation, that is, the addition and subtraction, of the consequences of general names agreed upon to mark and signify our thoughts.” Science is explored reason; knowledge is acquired through science; truth is discovered through knowledge. To arrive at the truth you must perfectly engage your reason to first obtain knowledge. Therefore, the purpose of the engagement of reason is known: the search for certainty. Reason, like science, is a geometric process. The use and purpose of reason is not to find the sum and truth of one or a few consequences, far from the first definitions and established meanings of the names, but to begin from these, and proceed from one consequence to another. Because there can be no certainty of the ultimate conclusion, without certainty of all those statements and negotiations, on which it was founded and deduced. This process of geometric reasoning with conclusions that have been deduced through a scientific process that begins from the foundation of reason, definition and conclusion with a valid conclusion built on the conclusions established along the way. Hobbes arrives at science through an intricate deductive and mathematical formula, from which it seems that reason was not born with us, like sense and memory; nor obtained by experience alone, as prudence is; but obtained from industry; first in that proper imposition of names; and secondly by obtaining a good and orderly method in proceeding from the elements, which are names, to assertions made through the connections of one assertion with another, until we come to know all the consequences of the names pertaining to the subject at hand. question; and this is what men call SCIENCE. By arriving at science through reason from firmly established definitions, Hobbes makes his philosophy incontestable. Since each step of his reasoning depends on the validity of the previous step, each step adds strength to his philosophy. So, once again, Hobbes proposes that this method of reasoning can only lead to civil peace since there will be no disputes. Since Hobbes' greatest fear was civil war and political unrest, this system of reason seemed the perfect remedy for a stable society completely dependent on social consensus. However, as his every argument tends to do, this argument contains a hole: the notion of an omnipotent judge as the supreme authority over the definitions of words, the foundations of reason and everything that is built on reason, hints at totalitarianism and takes away from the autocratic and self-imposed government to whichHobbes had mentioned earlier. It also diminishes the humanism of all people; they have no control over the basis of their thought process. While theologians point to God as the cornerstone of reason and knowledge, Hobbes points to this tenuous supreme governing authority. Nature of Human Behavior Next, Hobbes explores human nature from a psychological perspective. It evaluates the internal drives of human beings, the consequences of these drives, the resulting characteristics of human beings from the consequences of these drives, and the implications these characteristics have on society as a whole. Hobbes begins this examination with an assessment of the origin of motion in living organisms; start by focusing on the animals. According to Hobbes, there are two types of movement in an animal: vital and voluntary. Vital movement involves uncontrollable biological functions such as blood circulation, gas exchange, digestion, etc. Voluntary movements include deliberate actions that the animal is aware of such as walking, eating, drinking, talking, fighting, etc. Hobbes refers to these conscious but habitual motions as “efforts.” Hobbes's purpose in this section is to determine the factors that drive these efforts. “This effort, when it is towards something that causes it, is called Appetite, or Desire; …And when effort is directed at something, it is generally called Aversion.” As in the discussion on the Mechanics of the Mind, appetites and aversions are products of material stimuli that come into contact with sensory apparatuses that transfer the movement of that collision into understandings and paths of thought. The train of thought that turns into appetite or aversion is precipitated by the material kinetics of the external world when they come into contact with human bodies. Therefore, human nature is directly related to and dependent on the eternally incessant movement of the external world. Next, in his reasoning process, Hobbes further breaks down appetites and aversions into two categories: those “born in men” and those “coming from experience.” . The appetites and aversions born in men come from something they "feel in their bodies" such as "the appetite for food, the appetite for excretion and exoneration." The appetites and aversions arising from experience are the result of the consequences of “trying their efforts on themselves or on other men.” It is these appetites and aversions that proceed from experience, of which “we don't know everything, or believe we don't, we can have no other desire than to taste and try. But we have aversion to things, not only that we know that they have harmed us, but also that we do not know whether they will harm us or not. From these relative unknowns “passions” are born. Hobbes lists a wide range of various “passions” such as cruelty, envy, kindness, natural lust, joy, and despair. He sums up the consequences of these passions when he says: But whatever be the object of a man's appetite or desire, that is what he for his part calls good; and the object of his hatred and aversion, evil; and his contempt, vile and insignificant. Out of these passions, man encounters a conflict: "when appetites and aversions, hopes and fears, alternately arise in the mind of a man regarding the same thing" man enters into what Hobbes calls "deliberation". When a person deliberates about something, they enter into a train of thought with the goal of judging something as good or bad and determining whether or not to act based on that judgment. The decision to act or remain inactive is called “will”. When a person expresses the final sentence of his judgment in a speech, it has the potential to be scientific. When the speech is put into speech andit begins with the definitions of words and proceeds by connecting the same into general statements, and these again into syllogisms; the end or last sum is called conclusion; and the thought of the mind signified by it, is that conditional knowledge, or knowledge of the consequence of words, which is commonly called science. He then warns that if the first principle of reasoning is not by definition then the conclusion is called "opinion" and is not considered scientific. Furthermore, when reasoning begins with a person's original definitions, it is not yet science. But if the person truly believes in the first principles, this is called “belief” and “faith”. Faith is belief in the person, and faith is in the truth of his message. Through this argument, Hobbes establishes that all knowledge, however truthful in nature, is conditional if the foundations are not established in definitions agreed upon by all or established by the judge. Once again Hobbes demonstrates the credibility of his method of reasoning; excludes every other type of knowledge and path to the truth except his own. His deductive and systematic approach to reason is the only infallible way to achieve actual knowledge and truth. Power and Fear Aside from the pursuit of knowledge and truth, Hobbes concludes that appetite and aversion have other, more significant consequences on human psychology and subsequent behavior. Man's strongest appetite is the appetite for power. Hobbes argues that the pursuit of knowledge, the pursuit of honor, and the pursuit of wealth all collapse into the overwhelming appetite for power. Hobbes divides power into two categories: natural and instrumental. Natural power is “the eminence of the faculties of the body, or of the mind: as extraordinary strength, form, prudence, arts, eloquence, liberality, nobility”. Instrumental powers are acquired through effective use of natural powers or through inherited luck. These powers “are means and instruments of acquiring more: such as riches, reputation, friends, and the secret work of God, which men call good fortune.” Hobbes states that the thirst for power by any means necessary is human nature and is a virtually unstoppable desire. His conclusion on power states: "Thus, first, I consider it a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire for power after power, which ceases only at death." The competition to accumulate more power results in extreme means employed by humans. The behavioral consequence of this desperation results in fear. Fear is the antithesis of the appetite for power. Fear is the ultimate aversion. Fear of other people's power is the only antidote to the thirst for power. The fear of death, and of wounds, disposes to the same thing: not for the same reason. On the contrary, needy and resistant men, not content with their present condition; just as all men who aspire to military command are inclined to continue the cause of war; and to foment disorder and sedition: for there is no military honor but through war; nor any hope of mending a sick game, for example by provoking a new mix. Hobbes concludes that the lust for power is the ultimate cause of civil disorder and the only solution to the problem is an adequate implementation of fear. The constant struggle between fear and power makes men want to escape their current situation. According to Hobbes, since appetites and aversions are part of human nature, they are inevitable and, therefore, people are trapped in a perpetual conflict between competition for power, fear of those in power, fear of those who want to steal their power. power and fear of death by power-hungry men unregulated by instituted consequencesby the government for such action. Since appetite and aversion are mechanical components of human nature, and since resources for self-defense and the usurpation of power are limited, the natural result is violent war. Hobbes's final point in this segment is that, although people may differ in their natural powers, each shares one absolute power: the power to kill. Nature has made men so equal, in the faculties of body and mind; as if one sometimes found a man manifestly stronger in body, or quicker in mind than another; yet, when all is taken into account, the difference between man and man is not so considerable as that one man can claim for himself some benefit, to which another cannot claim as well as he. Indeed, as regards the strength of the body, the weaker has sufficient strength to kill the stronger, either by secret machinations, or by allying himself with others who run the same danger within themselves. The consequence of this equality is mutual distrust between men. . They become skeptical of each other. Their last effort becomes to destroy. Historian MM Goldsmith explains this dangerous, unstoppable continuation of the movement: The consequence of natural equality is an equal hope in every man of achieving his ends. Since desire in every man is in principle unlimited (though in reality it need not be unlimited), and since all men have equal hopes of achieving their ends, whenever two men desire the same thing of which they do not they can both enjoy, they become enemies. In their competition to satisfy their desires, they try to destroy or subjugate each other. Hobbes states that when the only fear a man has is the fear of another man's power, he has nothing to lose by trying to rob him of that power with anything. means necessary. Mistrust ultimately leads to war. And from this mutual distrust there is no way for any man to secure himself, so reasonably, as an anticipation; that is, by force or cunning, to dominate the persons of all men that he can, until he sees no other power great enough to endanger him: and this is no more than his own preservation requires, and is generally allowed. This is inevitable. The state of war driven by the conflict between appetite and aversion to power and fear respectively describes what Hobbes calls the “state of nature”. It is important at this point in the treatise to reiterate Hobbes' method of systematically deductive reasoning within his text. The “state of nature” or state of perpetual war and competition arises from the insatiable appetite for power and the irrepressible aversion to fear of those in power. State of Nature According to Hobbes, the “state of nature” is the natural condition of human beings prior to organized organization. society and government. Hobbes's portrayal of humans in this state is rather pessimistic; portrays them as ruthless warriors independent of any cause or affiliation other than their personal quest for power. Over time, men live without a common Power that holds them all in subjection, they find themselves in a condition that is called Warre; and such a war, like that of every man, against every man…. In such conditions there is no place for industry… there is no Earth Culture; no navigation... no comfortable buildings; no tools to move...no knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no limbs; no letter; no company; and what is worst of all, the constant fear and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poor, evil, brutal and short. Although the “state of