The Political Philosophy of

Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes was born in
London in 1588. He received
his college education at
Oxford University in England,
where he studied classics.

Hobbes traveled to other
European countries several
times to meet with scientists
and to study different forms
of government.
During his time outside of
England, Hobbes became
interested in why people
allowed themselves to be
ruled and what would be
the best form of
government for England.

In 1651, Hobbes wrote his
most famous work,
entitled Leviathan.
In it, he argued that people
were naturally wicked and
could not be trusted to
govern.

Therefore, Hobbes believed
that an absolute monarchy
- a government that gave all
power to a king or queen -
was best.

Hobbes Famous Writings
The Elements of Law (1640)
De Cive (On the Citizen, 1642)
Leviathan (1651)
De Corpore (On the Body, 1655 )
De Homine (On Man, 1657)
Behemoth (1682)
Hobbes Approach to the Study of
Politics
As a philosopher, Hobbes based his work on
macro-anthropological principle.
By this, he meant that before we understand
the nature of society, we must first adequately
comprehend the nature of the human being.

Nature of the Human Being
For Plato and Aristotle
Man is a social being
Plato emphasized on mans rationality and
Aristotle stressed on mans political nature
For Machiavelli
Man is creature ruled by self interest

Equality among men
Hobbes believes that men are equal and this
equality is manifested in three ways:
1. Equality in the faculties of mind and body;
2. Equality of hope in achieving goals;
3. Equality in the exercise of mans natural right
to self-preservation.
Hobbes believes that the men are not exactly
equal, but the difference are not important
enough to matter.
He refuted Aristotles
idea that man are
inherently equal.

Hobbes says: Instead of inequality, one
finds a natural equality among men.

Inequalities we
find among men are
results of mans
resourcefulness.

Man the Social
Animal
Hobbes disagrees with
Aristotles idea that man
is a social animal.
That man is destined to
be part of some group or
association.
Man the Social
Animal
For Hobbes, man is not
naturally sociable for if
he were, societies or
communities will sprout
naturally
Man the Social
Animal
Societies are created by
men consciously deciding
that they want to be part
of society.
Thus, they are product
of agreements,
covenants or contracts.
Man as Power
Seeker
Hobbes believes that man is
not a God seeker as Christian
philosophers perceive, but a
power seeker
Man is engaged in an
endless pursuit of power
which end only in death
Man as Power
Seeker
By nature man seek to
possess and enjoy power.
The primary reason is to
ensure self-preservation of
their lives
Man as Power
Seeker
Power is the tool used by
men to protect their selfish
interests, the most important
of which is to avoid violent
death.
In this way, men are able to
preserve their lives.
The Rationality of Man
Reason is possessed by men
in general even while they are
in the state of nature or
outside of society.
Mans equality can lead to
conflict.

The Rationality of Man
They will treat each other as
competitors for the same
things and thus see one
another as enemies.
Men are power-seekers.
A consequence of this desire
is to dominate other men.
The Rationality of Man
Because men are roughly
equal capacities, and because
they are rational beings, it
would be virtually impossible
to attain this end.

The equality among men and
their ceaseless desire for
power lead to a condition of
war where every man is pitted
against every man
The Rationality of Man
Mans rationality dictates that he
will never be able to preserve his
life in a condition of war.
By using his faculty of reason,
man sees the need to get out of
this condition so that he, and
others as well, can live the kind of
life that he desires.
The Rationality of Man
Thus, reason leads men to
enter into a social contract.
Such contract is necessary
because for Hobbes, man is
not sociable by nature.
Society does not evolve
naturally; men enter society
through contract.
The Rationality of Man
It is a product of
convention or of an
agreement among men
so that they can get out
of the state of nature
The State of
Nature
The phrase state of nature
refers to the condition of men
prior to the creation of
societies.
It is the condition of the men
without government, and
without settled social living.
Characteristics of the State of Nature
The life of man in a
time of war is solitary,
poor , nasty, brutish
and short.

Leviathan, Thomas
Hobbes
The State of
Nature
The two cardinal values of war
are fraud and force.
In this condition men are not
governed by rules; there is no
central authority; men treat
each other as threat to achieve
their respective interest; and
the only recourse is self-help.
The State of
Nature
Since men treat each other
as enemies, there is always
the tendency to engage
each other in war.
In the state of nature, men
are driven apart and not
drawn together.
This is why the life of man
in the state of nature is
solitary.
The Social Contract
Through political association the danger and
insecurity that exist in the state of nature will
somehow be lessened.
A social contract is an agreement or covenant
among men that they will transfer their
natural right to preserve themselves from
sovereign entity.
The sovereign power can be one individual, an
assembly, or several individuals.
Characteristics of the Social Contract
It has to be voluntary.
It must be mutually
agreed upon.
It involves only the
subject.
It does not require
unanimity
The outcome of the Social Contract
instituted when a multitude of men do agree,
and covenant, every one with every one, that to
whatsoever man or assembly of men shall be
given by the major part of the right to present the
person of them all or to be their representative
Everyone, those That voted for it and those that
voted against it, shall authorize all the actions
and judgment, of that man, or assembly of men,
in the same manner, as if they were his own, to
the end, to live peaceably among themselves,
and be protected against other men.
The Sovereign
Power
Hobbes explain that it is not
enough that men agree to
enter into a covenant or
contract for these are only
words and can easily be
ignored.
What is needed is the
sovereign a man or an
assembly of men who
makes sure that the subjects
follow the contract.
Two ways by which a sovereign
can possess power
1. Sovereignty by
acquisition

2. Sovereignty by
institution

Task of the
Sovereign power
SELF-PRESERVATION

The sovereign must see
to it that an environment
conducive to the
preservation of the
subjects lives is
established and
maintained.
The Sovereign Power and Its Rights
1) The Subjects cannot make a new contract or
covenant without the permission of the
sovereign.
2) The sovereign cannot break the agreement.
3) Those who did not agree must now give
their consent since it is agreed upon by the
majority.
4) The subjects are the authors of the actions
of the sovereign.

The Sovereign Power and Its Rights
5) The subjects cannot punish the sovereign,
or worse, kill him.
6) The sovereign has the right to regulate the
doctrine.
7) The sovereign enjoys the power to
prescribe the rules governing property the
goods the subject can enjoy and how they
may enjoy them.
8) The sovereign has the right to decide on
conflicts of law.

The Right to Resist a Bad
Government
Some scholars believe that the
nature of the contract does not
give subjects the right to resist
This is based on the fact that any
action, good or bad, which people
do against the sovereign is an
action they do unto themselves.

The Right to Resist a Bad
Government
In Hobbes social contract, only the
subjects have duties or obligations;
the sovereign has rights and powers.
Therefore, subjects owe absolute
obedience to the sovereign who to
stress the point one more time, is
their representative.
If they obey the sovereign they obey
themselves
The Right to Resist a Bad
Government

Hobbes does not explicitly or overtly discuss
this right; it is only implied in his work.
While Hobbes did not explicitly speak or
write about such a right, traces of it can be
found in the Leviathan.

The Right to Resist a Bad
Government
when our refusal to obey frustrates the
end for which the sovereign was ordained,
then there is no liberty to refuse, but
otherwise there is
the obligation of subjects to the sovereign
is understood to last as long, and no longer,
than the power lasts by which he is able to
protect them

The Right to Resist a Bad
Government
Hobbes appears to be saying that
although there is no legitimate right of
resistance to arbitrary government, it is
inevitable that a sovereign will in fact be
resisted and overthrown if he flagrantly and
consistently violates the principle of reason
or laws of nature, which constitute the
foundations of civil government.

Is it done individually or collectively?

There is no collective will to speak of but
only an individual desire for self-
preservation.
Thus, the behavior of the men in a state of
nature is based on decisions made by the
individual and by him alone.
Without the sovereign, they continue to be
the individualistic being they were prior to
the contract.

Is it done individually or collectively?

This now points out to the view that the
decision to resist must then be, like decisions
in the state of nature and the decision to
enter into the social contract, done on an
individual basis.
When the individual feels that the
sovereign is a threat to his life, then the
individual can opt out of the arrangement
since the purpose for which he transferred
Is it done individually or collectively?
When the individual feels that the sovereign
is a threat to his life, then the individual can
opt out of the arrangement since the purpose
for which he transferred his rights to the
sovereign is no longer being fulfilled
If man were under a tyrant or despotic ruler,
he is still better off than if he were in the
state of nature where he has only himself to
turn to.
Best Form of Government
Hobbes classification of government is
based on quantitative rather than
qualitative categorization of governments

What is good and evil varies from person
to person; he call the things he like as good
and those which he dislikes are evil.
Why Monarchy is best
He chooses monarchy over aristocracy and
democracy for practical reasons rather than
for any perceived moral or theoretical
superiorty of this form of governent.