BSED-ENGLISH 2A

Sacote, Dona S.
Saab, Shairah May S.
Magallon, Marnie M.
Flores, Christy B.
Caibigan, Camille

A Reaction Paper for Thomas Hobbes’ Political Philosophy and Morality

Thomas Hobbes's moral and political philosophy is constructed around the

basic premise of social and political order, explaining how humans should live in
peace under a sovereign power so as to avoid conflict within the 'state of nature'.

Imagine a world without rules. Nothing is illegal, nothing is immoral and

everyone is absolutely free. This may sound appealing but in reality, this can be our
greatest nightmare when we realized that everyone is doing as they please. We may
have abundance of freedom but not in security. For a fact that, when everyone’s
constantly watching their backs, whoever is the biggest bully will be able to
dominate, simply by fear and aggression. This hypothetical time with no rules or
laws to govern our behavior is called “the state of nature”.

In addition, Hobbes believed that the people in the sovereign wants to do

something to change this and that the people are willing to compromise a bit of their
freedom in exchange of their security. For a fact that the people realized that there
are more benefits to be found in cooperating than in not cooperating. Social contract
has emerged, this view espoused by Hobbes and followed by many today. Social
contract says that right acts are those that do not violate the free, rational agreement
that has been agreed by everyone to uphold laws that provide safety and security for
everyone. Thus, the social contract can transform society from a “state of nature” to a
develop society in which even weak can survive.

In our opinion, the agreement of the contract has brought a huge impact to
the freedom of the citizens and reduce war among people related to societies
resources. Since everyone is bound to the contract, no one can limit from its freedom
and avoids inequality and has fair treatment.
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Furthermore, everyone's actions in regard to the obedience of the people to

their Sovereign, everything that is done is not their responsibility but the Sovereigns.
It is in the authority’s command to do what is written in the Law therefore it is the
Sovereigns obligation to be held responsible to whatever the result is of one's
follower’s action in obeying the people in power.

During that time or era, we think that it was a better decision to meet halfway
for the betterment of all. It was an excellent move to have a Sovereign to lead the
people to achieve their individual goals without the thought to rule over the rest.
However, nowadays it was taken advantage by the people in power to do whatever
they think is right for the people below their position that human rights were
neglected as to why we think that, people should also be heard and listened to. We
chose to give them their position, thus they should reciprocate that by listening to us.