Topic

Political Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes

Part II

Hobbes is the first social contract theorist. He is regarded as the main

proponent of this theory besides John Locke and J.J.Rousseau. The ‘contract
theories persisted until the end of the eighteenth century as the dominant
mode of political analysis. Although the concept of social contract goes back
to the Sophists in the ancient Greece and is briefly discussed in both Plato’s
and Cicero’s Republic, it is really a modern idea.’1The social contract theory
rests upon the fundamental argument that a state is actually the creation of a
contract between among beings. And it is the terms and conditions of the
contract that essentially determines the nature of the state and powers and
functions delegated to the government. It also means that the state is created
on the basis of mutual consent of its members and contrary to medieval
belief is not created by God. Therefore, this theory was a complete departure
of the divine origin theory premised upon the argument that state is a divine
institution created by God, and the ruler of the state is the representative of
God on earth. Hence neither the state nor the ruler are responsible to the
people. In fact it is the people who are obliged to obey the both as a divine
command lest they should commit sin. In line with changing times that
brought enlightenment and with the loosening control of Church on people

1 Brian R, Nelson. Western Political Thought. London: Pearson Education, P.172

with the challenge coming from reformation there arose the need for a new
theory of politics and state that was secular, grounded in human reason in
line with what is referred to as age of rationality. So in line with the demand
of the changing times Hobbes provided a theory of state that rejected divine
origin theory, Instead he gave a theory of the state that is grounded in
consent of the man who by invoking reason ended the state of nature that
had become intolerable for his own living. Therefore, he suggested that state
is a man-made institution and government is based upon the consent of the
ruled thereby making both subservient to the human reason.

While taking into consideration the human reason and their efforts,
Hobbes wanted to develop a rational and scientific understanding of the
state, the one that is strictly logical and can be analysed scientifically. While
doing so, Hobbes concluded that an understanding of human nature is must
for understanding the reason for which state was conceived and created.
Hence it became necessary for him to conceive a situation when there was
no state, a situation when people lived by their selfish and egoist nature
unregulated by any external authority. This situation he called as the state of
nature. Here people are unconstrained of any laws or rules. Since according
to Hobbes human beings in their essence are selfish, self-seeking, egoist
creatures the state of nature turns out to be chaotic.

The state of nature, is hypothetical, a mental construct articulated by

Hobbes in order to explain how people would live in a pre-social and pre-
political situation. ‘For Hobbes, as for all the contract theorists, the social
contract and the state of nature are simply ways of thinking about human
beings and their politics, not real historical conditions or events.’ 2 This
imaginative situation, provides a clarification to the question of how would
humans behave in such conditions?.

The condition in the state of nature, according to Hobbes would be

that of absolute liberty and absolute equality. Absolute liberty as, without
any restrictions all the humans were free to take anything stimulated by their
nature, and absolute equality in the sense that each individual had equal
chance to being roughly equal in their capacities in negative sense of being
capable of harming, or being vulnerable to being harmed by any one. This
ceaseless nature of voluntary motions makes it explicit that the human desire
for power must be insatiable, thus making them the self-centered power
seekers. ‘Given these conditions, Hobbes argues there must inevitably be a
ceaseless selfish struggle for power. Since all have a right to everything, and
since all are equal in their capability of exercising this right, all are subject to
attacks from others. For the right to everything means right to dominate and
even destroy others. As he says in leviathan, “The Right of Nature is the
Liberty each men hath, to use his power, as he will himselfe, for the
preservation of his own Nature; that is to say, of his own Life; and
consequently, of doing anything, which in his own Judgement, and Reason,
hee shall conceive to be the aptest means thereunto.” Hence felicity,
ultimately survival, dictates that we have a right to everything and that we
use that right to acquire power over others lest they acquire it over us. The
conditions inherent in the state of nature compel each person to engage in a
parody of golden rule, “to do unto others before they do unto you.”3 Hence,
the state of nature was the state of war of all against all. Every person had to

2 Ibid, P. 174
3 Ibid, P. 174
face the constant threat of violence and fear from every other person. None
could outdo other, as all are equal. As he best explains the situation in these
words;

“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 time; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all,
continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man,
solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Hobbes, Leviathan p, 113

While analyzing his words, Hobbes constructs a very negative and

pessimistic view of human nature. For him human beings are self-centered
beings, who if not controlled behave like killing each other for their own
safety and power. He considers humans as non-social beings, because they
only think about their own selves without caring for any other person. Now
the question lies what makes these self-centered beings to enter into a
contract and create a civilizing institution called state.

Since life in state of nature is nasty, brutish and short, and under
constant threat of violence, According to Hobbes, people are compelled to
enter into a contract so that they can end the state violence and fear they find
themselves in. People create state in order to secure their lives and take
themselves out of the situation of constant fear and threat. They create a
state for peace so that life becomes relatively pleasant. As there would be no
constant threat and violence in the state. People invoke reason that was latent
within them till then to find way out of the chaotic situation they find
themselves in the state of nature. By invoking reason people conceive of
creating a common authority through a contract by everyone in the state of
nature.

As Hobbes says; “The only way” declares Hobbes “to erect such a
Common Power …is, to conferre all their power and strength upon one Man,
or upon one Assembly of men, that they may reduce all their Wills, by
plurality of voices, unto one Will; which is as much as to say, to appoint one
Man, or an Assembly of men, to beare their Person; and every one to owne,
and acknowledge himselfe to be Author of whatsoever he that so beareth
their Person, shall Act, or cause to be Acted, in those things which concern
the Common Peace and Safetie; and therein to submit their Wills, everyone
to his Will, and their Judgements, to his Judgement. This is more than
Consent, or Concord; it is a reall Unitie of them all, in one and the same
Person, more by Covenant of every man with every man, in such manner, as
if every man should say to every man, I Authorize and give up my Right of
Governing myselfe, to this Man or this Assembly of Men, on this condition,
that thou give up thy Right to Him, and Authorize his Actions in like
manner. This done, the Multitude so united in one Person, is called a
Comman-wealth, in Latine CIVITAS. This is the generation of the great
LEVIATHAN, or rather (to speak more reverently) of that Mortale God, to
which we owe under the Immortale God, our peace and defence. For by this
Authoritie Given Him by every particular man in the Common-Wealth, he
hath the use of so much Power and Strength conferred on him, that by terror
thereof, he is enabled to forme the wills of them all… And in him consisteth
the Essence of the Common-Wealth; which (to define it) is One Person, of
whose Acts a great Multitude, by mutuall Covenants one with another, has
made themselves everyone the Author, to the end he may use the streangth
and means of them all, as he shall think expedient, for their Peace and
Common Defence.

“And he that carryeth this person, is called SOVERAIGNE, and said to have
Soveraigne Power; and everyone besides, his SUBJECT.”

Leviathan, pp, 89-90

Thus according to Hobbes, state is actually the creation based upon self-
interest of people. People create state not out of any moral obligation but
merely for self-interest, so that safety and felicity is guaranteed to their lives.
For him state is an institution or a political society, created through a
contract men enter into, and this they do to find an escape from the violence
in state of nature which had made their lives completely insecure. Thus the
condition is that the government or the state created, shall be in a position to
provide security, which is possible only when it has power to do so. ‘And
logically, Hobbes argues, this means that the powers of government must be
absolute, since anything short of this would be insufficient to protect people
from each other. Hence, the terms of the contract are that all power shall
reside in the government, and the rights of the individuals shall only be those
allowed, or conversely those not circumscribed, by that power. In sum, there
are no legitimate restraints that can be placed upon government.”4

Hobbes’s Theory of Absolute Sovereignty

This forms the foundation of Hobbes’s state or an institution he called

commonwealth. The conditions therein determines the rights and duties of
the ruler and his subjects. People construct the commonwealth, where people
are united by a covenant, and the covenant is signed for a purpose. ‘Being
bound, every man to every man, those who have instituted a commonwealth
and agreed to submit their wills to the will of a sovereign have not the right,
without the permission of the sovereign, to make a new compact and appoint
a new sovereign to rule over them. They have mutually agreed to subject
their wills to that of the sovereign, and cannot lawfully, therefore, will to do
anything in respect to the commonwealth that is in conflict with the supreme
will of the sovereign. Any attempt to do so on the part of any portion of the
members of the commonwealth would be a clear violation of the social
contract.’5 According to Hobbes the sovereign is all powerful and cannot be
questioned by anyone. Being above and outside the contract, the sovereign
possesses the supreme authority. His authority is incontestable and no
revolution or change can dissolve it anyhow. If people anyhow want to
change the sovereign for any reason, this they are permissible to do only if
the sovereign gives them permission to do so.

Thus by covenant people surrender all their rights and liberties to the
sovereign in return that he must protect them and provide peace, security and
order. The covenant cannot be revoked as doing so meant reverting back to

4 Ibid, P. 178
5 Chester C., Maxey. Political Philosophies. New York: Macmillan Company, 1938. P. 225
the situation of lawlessness and insecurity as in the state of nature. But if
people unanimously want to revert to that situation in such a case only the
rights of the sovereign can be dissolved. Thus the surrender that people do of
their rights and liberties is final and complete. Hobbes, therefore has
advocated an absolutist theory of sovereignty as he provides unlimited
authority to the sovereign. It is this unlimited authority of the sovereign that
makes him able to provide the peace, order and protection to the people who
appoint him. For Hobbes, therefore, absolutist government is the only
substitute to lawlessness and disorder of the state of nature. And any
violation of the covenant is unjust not just for the people but also for the
person who does that. As he says,

‘The bonds of words are too weak to bridle man’s ambition, avarice,
anger, and other passions, without the fear of some coercive power.’

Hobbes, Leviathan, chapter 14

It is this fear of getting punished that becomes a factor for the socialization
of the people. All the rights that are conferred upon the sovereign remain
intact and there are no ways to breach them unless there is a unanimous urge
to revert back to the state of nature. The sovereign has the right to decide
what constitutes necessary for peace and security of the subjects that implies
the ultimate authority rests with the sovereign himself. The subjects have no
right or power to question his action as he deems fit for the subjects. Besides
the sovereign also has the right to legislate and make laws so that a
systematic way of living for all the subjects may be established. This is
necessary because given the situation in the state of nature it becomes
necessary to demarcate clearly what is lawful and unlawful, not only this but
also to decide what constitutes good and evil so that there remains no
confusion that can cause war as in the state of nature. Even by any means
there emerges any controversy the right again remains with the sovereign to
decide upon that. Thus he also possesses the judicial powers concerning any
civil, legal or natural matter and also the criminal matters. In case there
arises a situation or controversy with any other commonwealth the power of
deciding such a matter also lies with the sovereign. He has the right to
decide war and peace with other commonwealths. The sovereign has the
power to decide war or peace according to the public good.

The sovereign also has the right to choose his ministers, counselors
and all public figures. It is his prerogative to decide such matters. He can
also confer honour or punishment to the people accordingly what they
deserve. Thus the sovereign is conferred with all these powers and such
powers are not susceptible to any separation or division, according to
Hobbes, as he says,

‘These are the rights, which make the essence of the sovereignty;
and which are the marks, whereby a man may discern in what
man, or assembly of men, the sovereign power is placed, and
resideth. For these are incommunicable and inseparable.’

Hobbes, Leviathan. P. 118

While discussing the rights of the sovereign according to Hobbes, it

becomes obligatory to have a look upon the rights and liberties of the
subjects as well. Hobbes says, when an individual enters into contract, he
surrenders his entire will to the will of his sovereign which resideth either in
one man or an assembly of man appointed by the contract. Man has the right
to defend himself which nature has bestowed upon him, now when he enters
into the contract he confers this right of his protection to the sovereign
appointed. For Hobbes people obey sovereign because it is in their self-
interest to do so and they very well realize it.

Hobbes’s views on Human Nature and State

According to Hobbes, human reason is governed by two principles as desire

and reason. It is the desire which makes men restless and aspires them to
grab everything that is there lest it is grabbed by any other person. Thus
leading towards insecurity and threatening situation where everyone
becomes ready to kill every other man, so that to make their access to things
easier. While as, the principle of reason guides them through this untoward
situation and makes them realize that their survival and security lies not in
grabbing and killing each other, but in a peaceful way of ending this strife by
creating a state or civil society out of the mutual consent, as their end motive
is self-preservation.

Thus for Hobbes, ‘the raw material of human nature from which a
society must be constructed consists, then, of two contrasted elements:
primitive desire and aversion, from which arise all impulses and emotions
and reason, by which action can be diverted intelligently toward the end of
self-preservation. Upon this regulative power of reason depends the
transition from the savage and solitary to the civilized and social condition.
The transition is made by the laws of nature, the “conditions of society or of
human peace.” these laws state what an ideally reasonable being would do if
he considered impartially his relations with other men in all their bearings
upon his own security.’6

‘Since all human behavior is motivated by individual self-interest,

society must be regarded merely as a means to this end. Hobbes was at once
the complete utilitarian and the complete individualist. The power of the
state and the authority of the law are justified only because they contribute to
the security of individual human beings, and there is no rational ground of
obedience and respect for authority except the anticipation that these will
yield larger individual advantage than their opposites. Social well-being as
such disappears entirely and is replaced by a sum of separate self-interests.
Society is merely an “artificial” body, a collective term for the fact that
human beings find it individually advantageous to exchange goods and
services.’7

Conclusion

For Hobbes the monarchial government is best suited to the terms and
conditions that forms the basis of the institution of the government according
to the covenant between the people. But his theory is equally applicable to
other forms as well, like that are committed to establish peace and security
in the society. According to him, there is nothing called collective will or
good, all that exists and matters at the end is the individual security and
existence, and that is the only reason that justifies the existence of the state
and government. And this aptly makes Hobbes an absolute individualist.
‘The absolute power of the sovereign-a theory with which Hobbes’s name is

6George H, Sabine. and Thomas L, Thorson. A History of Political Theory. Fourth Edition. New Delhi:
Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., 1973. Pp. 430-31

7 Ibid, Pp. 432

more generally associated-was really the necessary complement of his
individualism. Except as there is a tangible superior to whom men render
obedience and who can, if necessary, enforce obedience, there are only
individual human beings, each actuated by his private interest.’8

8 Ibid, P. 439