Hobbes’ Leviathan
Overview
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Biographical/Historical Background
Science vs. Prudence
Goods, Power, and Felicity
Natural Condition of Mankind
Prisoner’s Dilemma
The Social Contract
I. Biographical/Historical Background
Thomas
Hobbes (1588-1679)
Lifetime
that spanned the
reign of Charles I, The English
Civil War, Oliver Cromwell, and
the Restoration of the
Monarchy under Charles II
Entered
Oxford at 14, graduated when he was 19, got a job as a tutor
I. Biographical/Historical Background
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In 1629 he travels to Europe
and finds Euclid’s Elements of
Geometry, becomes
mathematics tutor to son of
William Cavendish, Earl of
Devonshire
He reads one of the proofs and
is astounded; has a “eureka”
experience
Recognizes the power of
deductive methodology
I. Biographical/Historical Background
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In 1636 he reads and meets Galileo and
becomes intrigued with Galileo’s law of inertia
and believes that the laws of motion apply to
the political world as well as the
physical/mechanical world
Begins to write a series of moral/political
books, including The Elements of Law
(1640), and De Cive (1642)
I. Biographical/Historical Background
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Leviathan was published in London in 1651
while he was in exile in Paris
Soon after publication he flees Paris (the
Catholics objected to its attack on the
papacy) and resettles back in England
Charles II is restored as king in 1660
Hobbes manages to live the rest of his life in
relative peace on a government pension
II. Science vs. Prudence
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How do we approach our study of politics?
Hobbes wants to develop a political science,
so we need to understand his understanding
of science
Draws a distinction between prudence and
science:
II. Science vs. Prudence
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Chapter 9:
“There are of KNOWLEDGE two kinds;
whereof one is Knowledge of Fact: the other
Knowledge of the Consequence of one
Affirmation to another…”
II. Science vs. Prudence
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“The former is nothing else, but Sense and
Memory, and is Absolute Knowledge; as
when we see a Fact doing, or remember it
done: And this is the Knowledge required in
a Witnesse…”
In what sense is it “absolute knowledge”
II. Science vs. Prudence
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Earlier, in Chapter 8 he refers to this as
prudence:
“When the thoughts of a man, that has a
designe in hand, running over a multitude of
things, observes how they conduce to that
designe; or what designe they may conduce
unto; if his observations be such as are not
easie, or usuall, This wit of his is called
PRUDENCE…”
II. Science vs. Prudence
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Or, as he defined it in Chapter 3:
“Prudence is a presumption of the Future,
contracted from the Experience of time Past”
II. Science vs. Prudence
“The later is called Science; and is Conditionall;
as when we know, that, If the figure showne be a
circle, then any straight line through the Center
shall divide it into two equall parts. And this is the
Knowledge required in a Philosopher; that is to
say, of him that pretends to Reasoning.”
II. Science vs. Prudence
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“Whereas Sense and Memory are but knowledge of
Fact, which is a thing past, and irrevocable; Science
is the knowledge of Consequences, and
dependence of one fact upon another: by which, out
of that we can presently do, we know how to do
something else when we will, or the like, another
time: Because when we see how any thing comes
about, upon what causes, and by what manner;
when the like causes come into our power, we see
how to make it produce the like effects” (Chapter 5).
What’s the advantage of science over prudence?
II. Science vs. Prudence
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Think of Machiavelli’s Prince and the problem
of fortune
Each incident may differ in subtle but
significant ways so that the lessons learned
from one event may not in fact be the proper
guide for another event
The problem may not be fortune but a flawed
methodology
II. Science vs. Prudence
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For Hobbes, science = sapience, which is
certain knowledge
The science which becomes our model is
geometry
Let’s look at Hobbes’ geometric politics
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
1. The world is in flux; i.e., things change
and move; two types of movement:
“There be in animals, two sorts of motions
peculiar to them: one called vital; begun in
generation, and continued without
interruption through their whole life; such as
are the course of the blood, the pulse, the
breathing, the concoction, nutrition,
excretion, etc., to which motions there
needs no help of imagination…” (Chap. VI)
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
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“the other is animal motion, otherwise called
voluntary motion; as to go, to speak, to
move any of our limbs, in such manner as is
first fancied in our minds…” (Chap, VI)
If we look at voluntary motion, what
motivates us to move? In other words, why
do we engage in any of these voluntary
acts?
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
2. Some reason exists to explain voluntary
motion; something motivates us to
move:
“And because going, speaking, and the like
voluntary motions, depend always upon a
precedent thought of whither, which way,
and what; it is evident, that the imagination
is the first internal beginning of all voluntary
motion…” (Chap. VI)
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
3. Some reason exists to prompt the
imagination: DESIRE
“These small beginnings of motion, within the
body of man, before they appear in walking,
speaking, striking, and other visible actions,
are commonly called ENDEAVOR…”
“This endeavor, when it is toward something
which causes it, is called APPETITE, or
DESIRE…” (Chap. VI).
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
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In other words, desire means some things
exist which are good:
“But whatsoever is the object of any man’s
appetite or desire, that is it which he for his
part calleth good; and the object of his hate
and aversion, evil; and of his contempt, vile
and inconsiderable” (Chapter VI)
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
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What is missing in his
definition here?
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He’s not specifying the things
which are good or evil
In other words, he’s not saying
that we all will or can agree on
what is good or evil
He is saying that every animal
and every person has some
conception of things it wants
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
In other words:
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Good: things that are desirable
Evil: things that are undesirable
Contemptible: indifferent
All of these are relational and selfishly (selfreferentially) defined
Each of us decides on our own what is
good, evil, and contemptible
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
4. If we have desires, then that which
allows us to reach those desires is what
we call Power.
 “The POWER of a man, to take it universally,
is his present means, to obtain some future
apparent good; and is either original or
instrumental” (Chap. X).
 We can’t fulfill our desires simply by wishing
for them
 More power is better than less power
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
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Felicity:
“Continual success in obtaining those things
which a man from time to time desireth, that is to
say, continual prospering, is that men call
FELICITY” (Chap. VI).
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Note it is continual success in fulfilling our
desires
Temporally extended (the desires exist
through time)
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
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Means both that we will continue to desire
things and that we will continue to need the
means to achieve those desires
We keep desiring things because life exists
through time, but…
“[t]here is no such thing as perpetual
tranquillity of mind, while we live here;
because life is but motion, and can never be
without desire, nor without fear, no more than
without sense” (Chapter VI)
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
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In other words happiness, felicity, once achieved is
not permanent, but an ongoing process:
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Felicity “consisteth not in the repose of a mind satisifed.
For there is no such finis ultimus, utmost aim, nor summum
bonum, greatest good, as is spoken of in the books of the
old moral philosophers. Nor can a man any more live,
whose desires are at an end, than he whose sense and
imaginations are at a stand” (Chapter XI)
Need to secure means for future happiness and
fulfilling future desires
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
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“[T]he object of man’s desire, is not to enjoy
once only, and for one instant of time; but to
assure for ever, the way of his future desire”
(Chapter XI).
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
“And therefore the voluntary actions, and
inclinations of all men, tend, not only to the
procuring, but also to the assuring of a contented
life; and differ only in the way: which ariseth partly
from the diversity of passions, in divers men; and
partly from the difference of the knowledge, or
opinion each one has of the causes, which
produce the effect desired” (Chapter XI).
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
5. Power is a universal drive:
“So that in the first place, I put for a general
inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and
restless desire for power after power, that
ceaseth only in death…” (Chap. XI).
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Why?
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
“And the cause of this, is not always that a
man hopes for a more intensive delight, than
he has already attained to; or that he cannot
be content with a moderate power: but
because he cannot assure the power and
means to live well, which he hath present,
without the acquisition of more” (Chapter XI)
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
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In other words, because of the motion and
flux of the universe (Point 1) – things change
– we need to seek power continually, not
necessarily because we want to improve our
lot but rather simply to secure what we
already have
No one wants to regress
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
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This is no major difficulty if we all lived a
Robinson Crusoe-esque solitary existence
What
happens if we take these features and
combine them in a social animal?
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
6. People live near each other such that
each of our activities influence those of
our neighbors
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
7. People are by nature equal
“Nature hath made men so equal, in the faculties of
the body, and mind; as that though there be found
one man sometimes manifestly stronger in body, or
of quicker mind than another; yet when all is
reckoned together, the difference between man, and
man, is not so considerable, as that one man can
thereupon claim to himself any benefit, to which
another may not pretend, as well as he.”
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
“For as to strength of body, the weakest has
strength enough to kill the strongest, either by
secret machination, or by confederacy with others,
that are in the same danger with himself” (Chapter
XIII).
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In other words, we are all equally a threat to
each other
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
8. We all regard continual preservation as a
good thing
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Not necessarily the greatest good, but
usually a good thing
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Suicide objection?
III. Goods, Power & Felicity
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What inferences, then, can we make from the
preceding?
Let’s take individuals constituted the way we
have described and imagine what sort of
social relations they would have if left to their
own devices (that is, in the absence of
political authority).
IV. The State of Nature
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First condition of the state of nature is
scarcity
Not enough of the good things to go around
Combine that with points 5, 6, 7 above, then
we get:
“From this equality of ability, ariseth equality
of hope in the attaining of our ends…” (chap.
13)
IV. The State of Nature
“And therefore if any two men desire the
same thing, which nevertheless they cannot
both enjoy, they become enemies; and in the
way to their end, which is principally their own
conservation, and sometimes their
delectation only, endeavour to destroy, or
subdue one another” (chap. 13).
IV. The State of Nature
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In other words, the scarcity
creates competition since
If we recognize the equality
between two people then
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A necessary condition of
either “A” or “B” getting
good “X” is preventing the
other party from getting that
good
Creates feelings of
diffidence (chapter 6)
Rise of pre-emptive strikes
Leads to a “war of each
against all”
IV. The State of Nature
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Where “war” consists:
“not in battle only, or the act of fighting; but in a tract
of time, wherein the will to contend by battle is
sufficiently known: and therefore the notion of time,
is to be considered in the nature of war… so the
nature of war consisteth not in actual fighting; but in
the known disposition thereto, during all the time
there is no assurance to the contrary” (chapter 13).
Consequences?
IV. The State of Nature
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In the state of nature, then:
“In such condition, there is no place for industry;
because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and
consequently no culture of the earth; 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 much
force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no
account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and
which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of
violent death…
IV. The State of Nature
“and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish,
and short.”
IV. The State of Nature
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Why?
Why won’t people be able to get along?
Why will the scarcity lead to this nasty
situation?
Prisoners’ Dilemma
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Scenario:
You and an accomplice
are arrested on
suspicion of committing
some nasty crime
The District Attorney
and the police have
been unable to produce
enough evidence to
convict you of that
offense
Prisoners’ Dilemma
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We do have enough evidence to convict you of
some lesser charge
The only way the DA can nail you for the more
serious offense is if one of you rats out the other
Conversely, you and your partner can largely elude
prosecution if you both stay silent
You and your partner are placed in separate holding
cells and are unable to communicate with each
other
DA enters and offers you the following:
Rat
Hang Tough
Rat
Hang
Tough
Prisoners’ Dilemma
From your perspective, you and your accomplice are faced with the following:
Don’t Cooperate
with each other
(rat)
Cooperate with each
other
(hang tough)
Don’t Cooperate
with each other
(rat)
Cooperate
with each
other
(hang tough)
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Rat
Rat
Hang Tough
0, 10
Hang
Tough
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Rat
Hang Tough
0, 10
Rat
Hang
Tough
10, 0
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Column Player
Rat
Hang Tough
0 , 10
Rat
Row
Player
Hang
Tough
10 , 0
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Rat
Hang Tough
Rat
5, 5
0, 10
Hang
Tough
10, 0
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Rat
Hang Tough
Rat
5, 5
0, 10
Hang
Tough
10, 0
1, 1
Prisoners’ Dilemma
What to do? Which strategy should you select?
Rat
Hang Tough
Rat
5, 5
0, 10
Hang
Tough
10, 0
1, 1
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Dominant
Strategy
Rat
Hang Tough
Rat
5, 5
0, 10
Hang
Tough
10, 0
1, 1
Dominant
Strategy
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Dominant
Strategy
Rat
Hang Tough
Rat
5, 5
0, 10
Hang
Tough
10, 0
1, 1
Dominant
Strategy
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Neither player can improve his/her position,
Nash Equilibrium
Rat
Hang Tough
Rat
5, 5
0, 10
Hang
Tough
10, 0
1, 1
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Neither player can unilaterally
improve his/her position
Nash Equilibrium
Rat
Hang Tough
Rat
5, 5
0, 10
Hang
Tough
10, 0
1, 1
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Prisoners’ Dilemma
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Generalized Form:
Rank Outcomes, from most preferred to least
preferred
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1 = first choice
2 = second choice
3 = third choice
4 = fourth choice
Choice is “cooperate” or “not cooperate”
Don’t
Cooperate
Don’t
Cooperate
Cooperate
3,3
1,4
4,1
2,2
Cooperate
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Symbolic Form:
 We’re in a Prisoner’s Dilemma situation
whenever:
T>R>P>S
Temptation to defect > Rewards of Cooperation
Rewards > Punishment for Not Cooperating
Punishment > Sucker’s Payoff
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Prisoners’ Dilemma
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Note that even if we start at the cooperative
outcome, that outcome is not stable
Each player can improve his/her position by
adopting a different strategy
Don’t
Cooperate
Don’t
Cooperate
Cooperate
3,3
1,4
4,1
2,2
Cooperate
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Prisoners’ Dilemma
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But since both players have changed strategy
we end up at the non-cooperative outcome,
where both players are worse off than if they
had chosen to cooperate
Don’t
Cooperate
Don’t
Cooperate
Cooperate
3,3
1,4
4,1
2,2
Cooperate
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Prisoners’ Dilemma
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And, as we noted, this non-cooperative
outcome is also a Nash equilibrium outcome;
Neither player has any incentive to change
strategy since whoever changes will do
immediately worse by making the move
Don’t
Cooperate
Don’t
Cooperate
Cooperate
3,3
1,4
4,1
2,2
Cooperate
Prisoners’ Dilemma
Prisoners’ Dilemma
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Problem for Hobbes, indeed for any political
or moral philosophy, is how do we stabilize
the cooperative outcome?
Hobbes does not develop the language of the
P.D., but he is the first both to recognize the
difficulty and consider fully the implications
Prisoners’ Dilemma
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Problem for Hobbes, indeed for any political
or moral philosophy, is how do we stabilize
the cooperative outcome?
Hobbes does not develop the language of the
P.D., but he is the first both to recognize the
difficulty and consider fully the implications
Prisoners’ Dilemma
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People in Hobbes’ state of nature are in
Prisoners’ Dilemma situations
Solution?
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We need a sovereign
What kind?
Why obey?
VI. The Bronze Rule
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For Hobbes, the rule governing our moral
relations in the state of nature is:
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As long as other people are not free riding, then
don’t free ride
But if free riding is a problem, then free ride
In other words, something like
“Do unto others as they do unto you”
VI. The Bronze Rule
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Laws of Nature
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Clarifying terms
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Right of Nature – each individual is in a moral position to
do whatever is necessary to stay alive
Liberty: absence of external impediments
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Free to do as you please since have no moral, political,
physical, cultural, social constraints
Law of Nature – rules governing our actions which can
be discovered by reason and reason alone
VI. The Bronze Rule
Right = liberty
Law = obedience
VI. The Bronze Rule
First Law of Nature:
1.
In state of war of each
against all, seek peace if
others seek peace
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That is, morality cannot
restrict you from saving
your own life
Thus state of nature is
basically amoral, in that
everyone is acting in self
defense
The war of each against all
results not because we are
all evil, but because we
each want to stay alive
VI. The Bronze Rule
Second Law of Nature
2.
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Be willing to cede rights, if others are also so
inclined
Why?
VII. The Social Contract
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Renounce rights to kill each other (in self
defense)
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Recall conditions of the state of nature
Situation where pre-emptive strikes are rational
How to solve the Prisoner’s Dilemma?
Whenever we have a public good, each of us
must renounce our right of self government
and give it to the sovereign
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Note: you can’t give up the right of nature (protect
yourself) but you do cede all other rights
VII. The Social Contract
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Obey the sovereign so long as it keeps the
peace
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Because we can’t agree as individuals, simply
cede authority to sovereign and accept the
legitimacy of that sovereign
Each of us promises each other to obey the
sovereign and therefore
VII. The Social Contract
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Each of us is morally obligated to obey the
sovereign
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This is necessary since it prevents us from
slipping back into the State of Nature and the war
of each against all
Sovereign can do anything short of taking our
life

There is no such thing as an unjust law
Sovereign
The obligations we make in
the terms of the social
contract are to each other,
and as such bind each of
us, not the sovereign.
Sovereign
The sovereign
is not part of
the contract.
Sovereign
VIII.
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Autonomy and Authority
Hobbes’ solution is practical when our
autonomy is threatened by a lack of authority
It solves the problem of incompatible wants.

Authority means allowing something to have
unequivocal will to do whatever it wants
VIII.
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Autonomy and Authority
If sovereign has authority, this means we are
under moral obligation to others to obey the
sovereign
We cede the right to do anything we want to
do (our liberty) in exchange for doing
anything the sovereign does not forbid
III. Autonomy and Authority
So..
Obey the sovereign