Thomas Hobbes in his book Leviathan offers ways to prevent people
from resorting to war when a social or political problem exists. According to
Hobbes, when there is no civil government or no commonwealth, there is always a
risk for conflict because men naturally compete for honor and dignity (1651, p.
94). Therefore, there has to be a common power that prevents men from turning
to conflict. The commonwealth is such a power. Men create the commonwealth and
give it the authority to protect them (Hobbes 1651, p. 95-96). The commonwealth
has sovereign power and men agree to submit to the commonwealth, which can be
one man as in a monarchy, or an assembly of men as in a democracy or an
aristocracy.
What was
confusing for me was that Hobbes starts his book about politics with a discussion
about man, a man’s sense, his imagination, and his passions. He also writes
about speech and discusses the use and abuse of speech. Through the whole first
part of the book I kept asking myself why he does that. Not until the second
part of the book when he discusses the commonwealth and why it is important to
have a sovereign power did it make sense to me why he discusses a man’s
passions and the speeches with which these passions are expressed. The passions
drive man to want to compete for honor and dignity. Passions create jealousy,
envy and hatred that cause conflict and war.
Hobbes’s
discussion about the importance of a commonwealth consists of a comparison
between a monarchy and sovereign assemblies. However, those who would expect
Hobbes to favor a democracy with an assembly of men as the form of government,
would be very disappointed because Hobbes offers more positives in a monarchy
than in a democracy. For example, he writes that in a monarchy the public is
more developed because “the public and private interests are most closely
united” (1651, p. 102-104). The other advantage of a monarchy is that if a
monarch wants to ask someone for advice, he can ask anyone he wants to.
Assemblies on the other hand will only ask the advice of people with money,
regardless if they have the knowledge needed to give good advice (Hobbes 1651,
p. 104).
Hobbes also
discusses religion and the existence of God in Leviathan. Hobbes believes that man created religion because of
anxiety and fear and that it only exists in man (1651, p. 60). Hobbes does not
favor any religion, but instead he writes a great deal about the religion
practiced by the Greeks and later the Romans, as well as Christianity. During
his discussion of religion, it is not easy to determine if Thomas Hobbes actually
believes in God. However, later in his book he discusses God and the kingdom of
God (Hobbes 1651, p. 180). While he never clearly states that he believes in
God, he has great things to say about God. Hobbes believes that God’s right of
sovereignty comes from his omnipotence, and that men must be subjects to him
(1651, p. 181-183).
Hobbes’s
discussions about God and religion confused me a little. Leviathan was written during the Enlightenment and is a book about
politics, but Hobbes never clearly stated that politics and religion should be
separated. Considering that the book was written during the Enlightenment, I
expected Hobbes to make a recommendation about separation of politics and
religion.
References
Hobbes, Thomas. 1651.
Leviathan. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc.
Christine, I'm glad you touched upon Hobbes desire for a monarchy over a democracy. I think an additional key element is his confession that in reality, those in power are the ones who can with hold the law. Therefore, if it is a Christian law or a pagan law, the most adept ruler is the one who can enforce their law upon men in a manner in which they do not and cannot rebel.
ReplyDeleteYou also point out the confusion regarding religion in Hobbes' book with your last paragraph. I think he doesn't recommend separating them because his logic has led him to a conclusion that there must have been a 'first mover' or god like being. In addition, I think I Hobbes thought the Christian law could be absolute and all powerful in making man obey its rules, then we would be in support of it.
Katherine, thank you for your comments. You make a very good point about why Hobbes does not recommend the separation of government and religion. I did not think of it that way, but I agree with your idea that Hobbes thought that Christian law could be very powerful to make people obey the rules so that people would support it.
DeleteThe religion component was also confusing for me as well. I think perhaps he focuses on the religious example of supreme authority, God, that was necessary for there to be order as it could fit into this system that he was creating and further example of why it is necessary. He continues to make a case that man needed an ultimate authority to insure that there is order and to avoid civil war. And he goes on to give examples from scripture of when man needed that authority, such as with Adam. Which leads to his going into depth about man, and his passion, the body, as this is are ultimately gives definition to why there is a need for his system and why it works.
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