Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

Hobbes’s Leviathan

Leviathan, commonly known by its full title Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, is a seminal work by English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679). Written during the tumultuous period of the English Civil War and published in 1651 the book takes its name from the biblical sea monster described in the Hebrew Bible. Regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory, Leviathan explores the structure of society and the foundations of legitimate government.

Hobbes sought to address a fundamental question: why do humans need government, and what gives it legitimate authority? At the heart of Hobbes's argument lies his famous conception of the "state of nature"—a hypothetical condition of humanity without political authority. In this state, Hobbes argues, life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short," characterized by a perpetual war of all against all. Without a common power to keep people in check, individuals would live in constant fear and conflict, driven by competition, diffidence, and glory.

To escape this intolerable condition, Hobbes proposes that rational individuals would agree to a social contract, surrendering their natural rights to an absolute sovereign—the Leviathan. This powerful entity, whether a monarch or assembly, would maintain peace and security by wielding ultimate authority over its subjects. In exchange for protection from the chaos of the state of nature, individuals consent to obey the sovereign's laws.

Hobbes's materialistic approach to human nature and his defense of absolute sovereignty proved controversial in his time and remain provocative today. Leviathan challenges readers to consider the price of security, the origins of political obligation, and the relationship between individual freedom and collective order—questions that continue to resonate in contemporary political debates.

Please watch (you can listen to it) this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHLohXeSzQY

The book covers a lot of ground, and we only have time for a limited discussion. I’d like to concentrate on the first 17 minutes of the video (the section on religion is of less interest to a modern audience).

The full text of the book is here: https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3207/pg3207.txt

QUESTIONS

I’ve selected some of the assertions made by Hobbes for discussion points. Where quotes are discussed in the video the timing is given (e.g.3:00), and I have added some extra context from the full book which is not in the video.

1. “The universe, the whole mass of things that are, is corporeal, that is to say, body, and hath the dimensions of magnitude, length, breadth and depth. Every part of the universe is ‘body’ and that which is not ‘body’ is no part of the universe, and because the universe is all, that which is no part of it is nothing, and consequently nowhere.” (At 1:50 in video) He thinks that “man is machine”: do we agree with his materialist view?
2. "Felicity is a continual progress of the desire, from one object to another; the attaining of the former, being still but the way to the later." (3:00) Again, this is a very materialistic assertion: it is the nature of man to desire (and that’s the root of man’s problems?)
3. Man has a desire for self-preservation to survive. (3:50)
4. “...calleth that which pleaseth, and is delightful to himself, GOOD; and that EVIL which displeaseth him.” (4:00)
5. “True’ and ‘false’ are attributes of speech, not of things. And where speech is not, there is neither ‘truth’ nor ‘falsehood.” “Another doctrine repugnant to civil society, is that whatsoever a man does against his conscience, is sin; and it dependeth on the presumption of making himself judge of good and evil. For a man's conscience and his judgement are the same thing, and as the judgement, so also the conscience may be erroneous.” So, we do what we want to, and then dress it up as right and wrong? (Not in video)
6. “But to teach us, that for the similitude of the thoughts, and Passions of one man, to the thoughts, and Passions of another, whosoever looketh into himselfe, and considereth what he doth, when he does Think, Opine, Reason, Hope, Feare, &c, and upon what grounds; he shall thereby read and know, what are the thoughts, and Passions of all other men, upon the like occasions.” Hobbes has attempted to build a “structural” model of society by examining the passions of one man. Would this approach work?
7. He thinks that the state of nature (Natural Law) is a general condition of insecurity (7:25). “And consequently it is a precept, or general rule of reason: that every man ought to endeavour peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it; and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek and use all helps and advantages of war. The first branch of which rule containeth the first and fundamental law of nature, which is: to seek peace and follow it. The second, the sum of the right of nature, which is: by all means we can to defend ourselves.” He describes life as: “No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Do we agree?
8. Should we lay down our own rights to live alongside others? (9:40)
9. He thinks we would be inclined to seek peace, but without a common power to enforce promises we can’t be sure that our security would be guaranteed. (10:25)
10. The sovereign should have near absolute power, where they have been authorised to do so. This looks a bit like a democratic model, but goes a bit further.
11. “And because the condition of man . . . is a condition of war of every one against every one, in which case every one is governed by his own reason, and there is nothing he can make use of that may not be a help unto him in preserving his life against his enemies; it followeth that in such a condition every man has a right to every thing, even to one another's body.” (Quote not in video, but discussed at 14:20)
12. The sovereign would be replaced if the people come together to replace them (13:00), or replaced by a foreign power, or if the sovereign can no longer enforce law then we don’t have to obey them (16:20)