Philosophy

The eminent British philosopher Thomas Hobbes was born prematurely on April 5, 1588 and the second son of a vicar (clergyman in charge of church) in Wiltshire, England.  Hobbes believed he was born under a great deal of apprehension and encumbrance in the course of attaining peace.  His father abandoned and left them under the care of an affluent brother who raised and sent him to school at an early age.  From 1603 to 1608 he studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was uninterested by the philosophy of Aristotelianism (Lloyd, 2008).  At age nineteen, he became connected to the Cavendish family, working as private tutor to William Cavendish, a man not much younger than himself.  His perspective in philosophy began when he traveled to the European continent with William and learned a lot of interesting things from his experiences and people he meets. 

Moreover, Hobbes was profoundly influenced by Aristotles principles however he was more fascinated by Galileos perception of achieving new science of mechanics and clear conception of reality.  This passion of his drove him to write three books which are all relates to the application of the idea of mechanics or motion to all existence.  De corpore (1655) paid attention on the behavior of physical life determined by these principles of motion. (Hobbes  Malcolm, 2006). De homine (1658) focused on the actions of the human body and mind.  And De cive (1642) applied these principles to mans organized social life (Hobbes  Malcolm, 2006).  He embraces Mathematics and Science and develops a behavioral theory but his thoughts continuously turn to political matters. 

In addition, Hobbes elucidates the relationship among nature, man and society and that whatever a man desires can only be realized by an opposite need for equal security.  Men have this concept that in order to satisfy their temporal life one must have dominance and power.  Such men live in relentless conflicts and war which gave them right to self-preservation whatever it takes.  Because of self-importance and the nonexistence of common power and equality, law and order was nowhere to be found.  The so-called social contract is another law that binds the citizens to the will of the state. 
Hobbes believes that power of a country reigns supreme and does not depend on the law of its people.  Because of the growing dissonance in England, he composed The Elements of Law, Natural and Political, intended to reveal that the royal prerogative belonged by nature to the monarchy.  The noble blood were not delighted with the logical elucidation of the royalties which is based on the sanction of the people as they claimed that royal power came only and undisputedly from God.   As a result of the apparent political events, he left for Paris where he met the famous Mathematician Rene Descartes.  They eventually parted ways as he wrote an argument about the Descartes Meditations in 1640 (Hobbes  Malcolm, 2006).  His interest in mathematics is mirrored in his second work, A Short Treatise on First Principles, which presents a mechanical interpretation of sensation, as well as in his brief stint as mathematics tutor to Charles II (16301685) (Hobbes  Malcolm, 2006). The year 1651 marks the conclusion of the monarchy in England and the country was governed by Cromwell and his Parliamentary army and the creation of his masterpiece Leviathan.  This is most complete expression of his philosophy and was intended to the restoration of monarchy but his argument about the sacred rights of the kings was not strongly supported. It is telling us that the human body is like a contraption and that political organization is like an artificial human being.  

He also adds that the truth of his ideas can be determined only by looking into our selves to judge our distinctive opinions and passions, which form the foundation of all mens action.  Citizens should accept and obey royal tenet and authority of an absolute sovereign in order protect them from civil anarchy.  Hobbes favored monarchy mainly because he believed there should be only one supreme authority.  He could tolerate parliament alone, but not a system in which government power is shared.  This is the exact antithesis to the views of  Locke and Montesquieu.

     It reached the Presbyterian and Papal sect which used scripture to support their claims.  The dissent progressed which were mostly ardently Catholic and ostracized his argument on their religious position.  Besides, it is really not easy to separate his moral thoughts to his political opinions.  In his opinion, what our present situation dictates the things we need or ought to be doing.  For him ethics is concerned with human nature, while political philosophy deals with what happens when human beings interact.  He strongly believes that there are numerous reasons why one should not depend on human judgment alone and should be guided by science.  Our judgment has a tendency and is easily influenced by self-interest or by the satisfaction and distress of the moment.  It is only science that can offer reliability to overcome the infirmity human judgment.  However when it comes to the intricacies of human behavior his representation of science is even less acceptable.  This certainly proves that Hobbes is an ardent and a prudent pundit of political dealings.  

Hobbes was a rationalist, his arguments fosters on deductive design, at a time in which English science was moving more directly toward the empirical method of truth-building using inductive methods to validate hypotheses.  He built strong metaphysical arguments in favor of a mechanics-based vision of life.   However he offered no empirical proof for his ideas which was quickly becoming the bottom line for scientific proof in England.   Nonetheless, his ideas were so elegantly laid out that they provided a strong theoretical foundation for consequent research in this area - the kind that John Locke was soon to take up.  Continental thinkers were less disparaging of his methodology.   Without a doubt, Hobbes had a strong influence on Spinoza and though Spinoza took a much more worldly approach.   

Hobbes outlived all of the major seventeenth century scholars.  He became an English icon.  He offered new translations of Homer in his eighties and when he was ninety he was involved again with the controversies with the Royal Society.   He died on December 4, 1679 at the age on ninety-one and his death probably spared him from the fury of the royalist party.

Thomas Hobbes lived during the most anarchic times in the European history and consequently, we should not be astonished that his theories were scrupulously unconstructive regarding human nature.   He was generally regarded as one of the most prominent philosophers of the 17th century and had an enormous impression and has made great historical contributions on the succeeding British political, social and economic system (Hobbes, Charles,  Gaskin, 2002).  He formulated the social contract theory which influenced John Locke and other intellectuals in the era of the Enlightenment. The U.S. system of government also drew ideas from his works. 

Even though he believed that there was a law of nature, his conception was altogether modern.  His law of nature did not force human actions in the absence of adequate security.  It did not include a body of moral and principled values and was not in fact a result of divine will.  It was, however, discernable through reason and its first theory was self-preservation.  To him, the natural law directed that citizens search for peace but only when they are disposed to do so. 

Finally, it imposed that they concur to a social agreement establishing an absolute sovereign (absolutism) who would uphold this conventionally established peace and to whom everyone was politically compelled because they had agreed to his directive because he personated them and their civilization, and because he had the rightful power to rebuke their defiance with death, which was their greatest apprehension.  Although Hobbes believed that the institution of a powerful ruler would eventually lead to a less brutal and apprehensive life for the members of civil society, the psychology of the state of nature continued to be just beneath the surface of all human accomplishments, constantly checking habits of tolerance maintained by fear of the sovereign.  No matter what his intentions are it is appropriately understood, Hobbess obvious point of interest with the power of political, social, economic and religious belief is a fact that interpreters of his political philosophy must seek to give explanation.