Read without ads and support Scribd by becoming a Scribd Premium Reader.
See Premium Plans
 
INTRODUCTIONStatement of ProblemIt is in the nature of man to enjoy peace and he tries as much as possibleto have this peace . But since all men desire this peace, the only way to achieve it is by respecting each other, in all spheres of life. With this respect foreach other, peace and security are assured. The presence of security and the consequent peace is a sign of a healthy habitable state.But looking at our society today, security of life is no more and peace has left its arena. Even where we all should search for peace (Religion) has become a battle arena . The average Nigerian has known the ravages of either war or violence. The civil war of 1967 – 1970, ethnic clashes, religious conflicts, political assassinations and menaces of robbery have characterized our nation as a scene of ‘political and religious mockery .’ The leaders are corrupt and sometimes tyrannical. Even the led are no less corrupt than the leaders. In fact, lawlessness is the right word to qualify this situation of Nigeria. The rule of law isno longer respected. Man is now afraid of his fellow man. Trust has been betrayed on many occasions and some are of the opinion that the best way to defend oneself in this warfront called Nigeria is to offend each others and be ready to defend oneself at the expense of others. As a result of this, our country has beenthickly coated with human blood .In this climate of fear, man has not been able to actualize himself. There is underdevelopment as foreign investors are scared of the Nigerian situation.“We are culturally dead, economically dry, socially corrupt, religiously fanatical and politically chaotic” . We, Nigerians are plagued with ignorance as our institutions are shut for long periods of time in the name of religious crises. All this leads to fear in the Nigerian society. It is the concern of this essaythat this problem be solved.Aim, Scope and MethodologyTo this extent, this essay would consider the usefulness of Hobbes’ Social Contract Theory to Religious Crises in Nigeria. Since Hobbes proposes that man lived in a state of fear and lawlessness in the original state of nature and the only way to deal with man’s problem is to elect a Leviathan with an absolute power, to rule with the social contract terms and principles, therefore we could usethe same method to solve the problems of Nigerian state of fear and lawlessnessposed by crises.One of the renowned English Philosophers, Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679) is chosento be the lead philosopher here because he is well known for his political thought. His vision of the world is very striking because it hypothetically traced the origin of human society and political leadership in the States.Our aim in this essay will not be to change the basic nature of Hobbes’ social contract theory but to attempt an exposition of it. This is essay is not only meant for academic purposes but also to the practicality of maintaining peaceby proffering solutions to religious crises which bury peace in our society, because Nigeria is a multi-religious entity, once there is a religious crisis it influences other crises. It will be within the exposition of the religious crisesfrom the transition from military rule to civilian democracy in 1999 till 2010in Nigeria.This essay is divided into four chapters. Chapter one makes a survey of the social contract theory. Here we will first explore briefly the life of ThomasHobbes, starting from his early life, studies, works and his last days on earth.We will explore the background of Hobbes’ political philosophy, the emergence of the social contract theory and its meaning. This will extend our discussion toexpound the views of the two contemporaries of Hobbes: John Locke and Rousseauon the ideas of social contract. In chapter two, we shall be occupied with Hobbes’ social contract theory; to expose his discourse on the original state of nature and how it led to the proper contract theory. For a good examination of the notion of the social contract theory, we shall look at the Sovereign or Leviathan
 
and its management of power. The sovereign or Leviathan has an absolute power according to Hobbes and can punish any citizen that disobeys the contract.In chapter three, we shall examine the concept of the law of the state. Our primary task here is to expose what the law should be, achieve for the citizens and how the Leviathan should apply the law to rule individuals in the civil state. We shall be discussing natural law concisely in the light of Hobbes and itsrelevance in administering the rule of justice in the state. Natural law is important to this work because Hobbes tells us that in the state of nature each person has a right (liberty) guided by reason to use all things and this reason makes man to do things he deemed fit for the preservation of his life .According to Hobbes, the absence of jurisdiction is one of the causes of the predicaments in the state of nature. In our discourse on law, we will examinethe rule of justice, expounding the real act of justice and what it means to act unjustly. Hobbes asserts that the idea of justice was not in the consciousnessof people in the state of nature. However, in this new artificial state, thereis law, consequently treatment will be surely meted out to those who may contradict this law.Chapter four examines religious violence in Nigeria. The basic aim of this chapter is to apply Hobbes’ social contract theory as a means to solving religious conflicts in Nigeria. This chapter also makes a critical evaluation of Hobbes’ social contract theory. CHAPTER ONEA SURVEY OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY1.1Brief Overview of Hobbes’ LifeThomas Hobbes, the founding father of the modern political philosophy flourishedbetween 1588 - 1679, in the west of England. He always regarded himself as being timid because he remarked, “my mother gave birth to twins: Fear and I are twins because she was frightened by the approach of the Spanish Armada” . Thomas Hobbes was educated properly at Malmesbury where he became an extraordinary scholarin Greek and Latin, and at Oxford where he upheld his deep interest in classical literature and became familiar with the ongoing theological controversies of the time. Hobbes also did elementary logic and Aristotelian physics.In 1608, he became a tutor in the Devonshire family and later worked as a secretary to the son of William Cavendish. This family maintained a close relationshipwith Hobbes throughout his stay in London. In these circumstances, he came to know some of the ‘prestigious politicians of the time and literary men of his days’ of whom were Francis Bacon and Ben Johnson. In 1610, Hobbes was in France andItaly on visit, getting a first glimpse of the intellectual life of the continent and returning with a decision to become a scholar. The next eighteen years which he spent mostly at Chatsworth were the germinating period of his future intellectual interests and activities .At this period, Hobbes had turned to the classics to really gain an understanding of his life and of philosophy, which he presumed could not be attained in theschools. He decided to translate Thucydides into English after a period of reading and reflection. According to Hobart R.E., “like Thucydides, Hobbes believes that history was written for instruction, and he wished to instruct his countrymen on the dangers of democracy” . In 1628, when Hobbes published his translation,Charles I had been on the throne for three years and already a loggerheads withSir John Eliot and John Pym. Hobbes’ translation was the first attempt to bringhis people to their senses and make them a way of the tragedy that they courted: that of civil war, from which proceeded slaughter, solitude and the want of all things.Hobbes accepted to teach the son of Sir Gervase Clinton, with whom he stayed forthree years. This period was marked by Hobbes’ discovery of the intellectual wo
 
rld of Mathematics and Geometry, a world so important to the continental philosophers of his time. Meanwhile he had been totally ignorant of this world . The discovery greatly renewed his mind, gave him new zeal and direction to his philosophical reflections. This marked the domination of Hobbes’ mind by philosophy.Hobbes came in contact with Galileo near Florence on his last European tour (1634 – 1637), and above all, with Mersenne in Paris. A catholic priest, Marin Mersenne was the clearing house for both philosophical and scientific correspondenceamong critical minds of that time. “Through his meditation, Descartes invited Hobbes to read a manuscript copy of the Meditations and to submit objections, which Descartes printed together with his own replies” . Now Hobbes was ready to render his own system, the outlines of which he set forth in The Elements of Law. Although, he composed this work (Human Nature and on the Body Politic) in 1640, it was not published until 1650. He thought it wise to abandon England out of fear, then being governed by the long parliament. He fled to France in 1640 and tarried there for eleven years, as a Mathematics tutor to the future Charles II. While in Paris, he began his work on a set of three related works, entitled Element of Philosophy, the three parts of which were to deal with ‘body in general, human nature and the social polity’ (man, the citizen and the commonwealth). On the course of his stay in Paris, he also penned his work in political philosophy,the Leviathan in 1651 .Around 1652, Hobbes’ return to England as James Collins expressed it was solely… hastened by the opposition raised among Catholics and Presbyterians abroad tosome violent sections on religion in Leviathan, which was circulated in manuscript form. Early in 1652, Hobbes made his peace with the commonwealth and took upresidence again in England. After the restoration, Charles II bore him no resentment and even paid him a pension, referring to Hobbes indulgently as the bear whom everyone wants to bait.The old man, Hobbes published the first two parts of his writings: On Body (1655) and On Man (1658) of his trilogy. Thereafter, Hobbes spent his intellectual power in numerous polemics. He contended against Bishop Brainhall over human freedom and did his best to convince the learned world (in opposition to the Mathematician, John Wallis) that he had discovered how to square the circle and duplicate the cube.At eighty-four, he wrote his Autobiography in Latin verse. In 1675, he left London for Chatsworth and Hardwick. In 1679, when he learnt of his incurable ailment, he exclaimed: “I shall be glad to find a hole to creep out of the world” . Then at the age of Ninety-one, Hobbes died in 1679.1.2BACKGROUND OF HOBBES’ POLITICAL PHILOSOPHYIt is generally believed that every child is a product of his own society and age; thus, the socio-cultural activities of every society informs his behaviour and thought. In other words, a child’s experiences generally shape his mentality.Thomas Hobbes is certainly not different, for in his political thoughts, one caneasily capture the period he flourished and see in them the socio-cultural influences that informed the way he saw things in nature. For a clear and systematicunderstanding of Hobbes’s political philosophy, we shall objectively refresh our thoughts again on the period of his existence and clearly evaluate without certain erroneous biases especially concerning social contract, which he generallyconsidered as the basis for the establishment of the civil society.Thomas Hobbes lived between the 16th and the 17th centuries, when the whole Europe was under chaotic politics. His political background could be characterizedby tumult, insecurity and instability which eventually led to the British civilwar. The man, Hobbes, the son of a vicar of Westport was born two months prematurely in the spring period, marked by the nearing of Spanish Armada to the English coast. His mother’s shock at the approaching flight was said to be the majorcause of Hobbes’ early birth. This could be the stand of those who suggest that
Search
Search History:
Searching...
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
  • p.
    • Notes
    Load more