Critique of Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan

Wright State University Modern Political doctrine Essay 1 criticism of Thomas Hobbess Leviathan Wes Miller PHL 432 Donovan Miyasaki 10/9/2012 Thomas Hobbes was an position philosopher best known for his 1651 text Leviathan. In Leviathan Hobbes suggests that hu hu valets reputation is bingle of competition, diffidence, and exult. I will argue against this assertion, claiming that hu humanity temper is not matchlessness of war and mistrust, but unityness of cooperation and collaboration. I will conclude by stating that man works together to achieve the common goal of survival, happiness, and onward motion of the human race.Hobbes begins his explanation of the state of nature in chapter 13 of Leviathan by stating that few(prenominal) men argon equal in nature. Although atomic number 53 man may be stronger or more intelligent than an otherwise, humans be relatively equal in e very(prenominal) way because of their ability to contain and form alliances For as to the stren gth of body, the weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest, any by secret machination, or by confederacy with others, that are in the alike 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 depart enemies.If all men are equal, at that lead is no way for one man to be master of all other men. If a atomic number 53 man were to attempt to gain cause oer all other men, he would be overthrown by those he was trying to assimilate power over. Considering that all are essentially 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 consider three principal causes of quarrel. First, competition secondly, diffidence thirdly, glory (293). In this unending state of war in that respect is no desire for any expert advancements or culture because there would be no use for either.Many other aspects of life are thrown aside as well no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea no commodious building no instruments of moving, and removing such things as require oft force no knowledge of the face of the earth no flyer of time no arts no letters no nine and which is worst of all, continual apprehension, and danger of violent death and the life of man, solitarily, poor, nasty, brutish, and unequal (293). Hobbes claims that in this state of nature, there is no place for any persona 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 action in the state of nature is just. For example, it is perfectly just to deal from someone if they hold something that you desire (such as food, shelter, etc. ) Hobbes goes on to condone that the merely reasons that humans would be in a state of serenity would be the misgivi ng 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 terra firma that we live in at once would be impossible to achieve. If every man was uninterruptedly 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 sure, the human race would not even exist. Mankind would bewilder destroyed itself before it was able to fashion any kind of society.Simply by looking back at how the world evolved to be the way it is today, anyone buttocks see that the human race as a whole has been extremely lucky. Humans worked together, formed alliances, and constantly took travel to achieve a more balanced society. Although many of these attempts urinat e been unsuccessful, they were quiesce attempts nonetheless. The fact that the advancement of society was even attempted proves 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 forever been chieftains, kings, and presidents leading a group 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 tranquillity with from each one other is exactly 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 that mans nature is one of pause? One might argue that the societies in place today are constantly at war with each other, that societies are groups of good deal 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(prenominal) question.Isnt society a result of a mass count of collaboration between human beings? Because the societies at war are make 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 conflict 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 tha t Hobbess idea of the human nature being one of constant conflict and mistrust is false. Humans have always trusted each other 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 manifestly been achieved. He claims that man can only be at peace when he fears death, yet 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 get along state of nature, but merely the fact that man exists today is validation that our nature is not one of war. 1. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, in Political Philosophy The Essential Texts, ed. Steven M. Cahn (New Y ork Oxford, 2011), 293