Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679)

THOMAS HOBBES (1588 – 1679) Thomas Hobbes was born on April 5, 1588 in Malmesbury, England. Although his father disappeared when he was young, Hobbes' uncle paid for his education, and he was 14 years old at the time; old ear, Hobbes studied at Magdalen Hall in Oxford. In 1308, Hobbes left Oxford and became tutor to the eldest son of Lord Cavendish of Hardwick. In 1631, while teaching fanatical members of the Cavendish family, Habbes began to focus on philosophical ideas and wrote the first published article, a brief article on the main principles. Hobbes's association with the Cavendish family proved to be quite lucrative. He managed to escape parliamentary debate: contributing to the discussion of kings, landowners, and parliamentarians; And see firsthand how the government is structured and influenced. During a very turbulent time between the monarchy and parliament, Hobbes was a staunch monarchist and even wrote the first political philosophy, the element of law. Vsethousand and politics, defending king Charles I. In the early 1640s, when the conflict escalated into an English civil war (1642-1651), Hobbes fled the country and moved to France, where he would remain for eleven years. During his stay in France, Hobbes produced the most important works (including his most famous book, Leviathan, published two years after the execution of King Charles I) Thomas Hobbes was a very individualistic thinker. During the British civil war, while mostly supporting the empire... began to soften their arguments by declaring support for the Church of England. Hobbes, who was the most promirent royalist, expressed his dislike for the church, which led to him being banned by the court of the king of ihe's. Even as a staunch supporter of the monarchy, Hobbes did not believe the king's right to rule was from god: rather, it was a social contract ar:eed by the people. Hobbes believed that there needed to be an overhaul of oi philosophy, and set out to make a philosophical trtalizing of the thar system could provide an agreed basis for absolutely all knowledge. The root of the philosophical system is its belief that all phenomena in the universe can be traced back to matter and motion. But. He rejected that the method of experiment and observation of natire could act as a basis for knowledge. Rather, his philosophy is deductive and based on everything that is universally accepted as "the main principles". PHILOSOPHY OF THOMAS HOBBES Views on Knowledge Hobbes believed that philosophy and basic science on the observation of nature alone were too subjective because humans have the ability to see the world in a variety of different ways. He rejected the work of Francis Bacon and Robert Boyle, who used inductive reasoning from nature to draw scientific and philosophical conclusions. Instead, he believed the goal of philosophy was to build a system of truth based on fundamental universal principles that anyone could demonstrate through language and agreed upon by everyone. In search of a philosophy based on universal principles, Hobbes turned to geometry as a model and claimed it to be the first The principle of universaries. Because of deductive reasoning. Hobbes believed geometry was the model of true science and used this idea of deductive reasoning to create his political philosophy. Views on Human Nature Thomas Hobbes did not believe in the duality of human existence, according to Hobbes, like a machine; Made of material and whose functions can expire through mechanical processes (for example, sensations caused by mechanical processes of the nervous system). As such, Hobbes claims: the human hat avoids pain and pursues pleasure in an attempt to seek self-interest oirown (which makes human judgment so unbelievable), and that our thoughts and emotions are based on cause and effect and reaction action. Hobbes believed that human justice needed to be guided by science, which, in Leviathan, he referred to as "knowledge of consequences." Society, according to Hobbes, is a similar machine that, while artificial, also follows the same laws, and all phenomena throughout the universe can be abolished through the interaction and movement of material bodies. Fears, hopes, and social contracts Hobbes didn't believe much morality existed: the natural state of man. So when he talks about good and evil, he refers to "good" as anything that people want and "evil" as something that people avoid. Based on this definition, Hobbes then went on to explain the various behaviors and emotions. The hope, according to Hobbes's definition, is the possibility of getting some obvious good, and the fear is acknowledging that the obvious good cannot be achieved (although this definition is only maintained when human corsidering is beyond the bounds of law and society). Since good and evil are based on individual desires, rules about what makes something good or evil cannot exist. It is the back-and-forth constant between feelings of hope and fear that Hobbes believes is the defining principle of all human actions, and he claims that one of the two is present in everyone at all times. Hobbes described the "state of nature" as the Laving man instinctively desires to get as much good and strength as they possibly can. This desire and the lack of a law that prevents one from torturing others creates a prolonged situation. And this constant war in nature means that humans have to live in constant fear of each other. However, when reason and fear merge, it makes humais follow the state of nature (the desire to get as much as cte can) and makes humans seek peace. Furthermore. Good and evil will not exist until the highest authority of society establishes these rules. Hobbes claimed the only way peace could really be achieved 1s was by coming together and creating a social contract in which groups of people agreed to have one supreme authority over the commonwealth. In the social contract, fear has two purposes: 1. It creates a state of war in a state of nature so that a social contract is necessary. 2. It establishes peace within the country (by allowing the supreme authority to instill fear in everyore by punishing those who violate the contract). Views on the Provisional Government In his earlier works, Hobbes claimed society needed supreme power, in Leviathan,! Hobbes believed that factionalism in society, such as rival governments, different philosophies, or struggie between church and state, only led to civil war. Therefore, in order to maintain peace for all people in society, it must be agreed to have a single leader who controls the government, makes laws, and is responsible for the church.