Hobbes’ Leviathan
Overview
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Natural Condition of Mankind
Prisoner’s Dilemma
The Bronze Rule
A Hobbesian Sovereign
Autonomy and 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
Then we get:
“From this equality of ability, ariseth equality
of hope in the attaining of our ends…”
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”
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
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” (p. 287).
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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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
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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People in Hobbes’ state of nature are in
Prisoners’ Dilemma situations
Solution?
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We need a sovereign
What kind?
Why obey?
I.
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The Bronze Rule
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”
I.
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The Bronze Rule
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
I.
The Bronze Rule
Right = liberty
Law = obedience
I.
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
I.
The Bronze Rule
Second Law of Nature
2.
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Be willing to cede rights, if others are also so
inclined
Why?
II. 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
II. 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
II. 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
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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
III. Autonomy and Authority
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Hobbes’ solution is practical when our
autonomy is threatened by a lack of authority
It solves the problem of incompatible wants.
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Authority means allowing something to have
unequivocal will to do whatever it wants
III. Autonomy and Authority
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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
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On Socrates and other fools
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Recall Socrates and the position
of the philosopher in the city
Philosopher thinks for himself, so
we have the problem of trying to
retain autonomy and resist
authority
For Socrates, this was an
irreconcilable conflict as authority
means giving to others the ability
to make my moral
choices/objections
III. Autonomy and Authority
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Hobbes sees this as no problem, inasmuch
as – given the baseline (the state of nature),
it is always better to recognize authority
Through moral sympathy and imagination –
we can put ourselves in the position of other
people – we can recognize that if I disobey,
then others will, and we’re right back in the
state of nature and the war of each against
all.
III. Autonomy and Authority
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And only a fool would want that
So..
Obey the sovereign