Thomas Hobbes (1581-1679)

Hobbes’s Leviathan
• The Characteristics of Hobbes’s Leviathan are
unmistakable
• He is the sole source of laws
• He is not subject to civil laws
• Sovereign is creator of right and justice
• The law of nature can not be pleaded against
him
 Hobbes on Rights and Liberty
• Hobbes’s emphasis on absolute and unlimited
character of the sovereignty is likely to give
the impression that he does not concede any
rights or liberty to the people under the
Leviathan . This feeling is further strengthened
by the fact that he does not concede to the
individual any rights against the sovereign .
• The only freedom or rights which an individual is
permitted include the freedom of rights which an
individual is permitted include the freedom to do
what the laws of the state do not forbid and
secondly the rights which the individual could
not have surrendered under any covenant .
Liberty In the first sense is not of much
consequence because it does not constitute any
limitation on the authority of the sovereign .
• As regards the freedom in the second category
Hobbes allows the individual the right to
disobey the state if he is asked to do anything
which endangers his life or body . However , it
would be wrong to infer from the above that
Hobbes does not permit any liberty to the
individual under Leviathan . He does not
permit liberty , but this liberty is essentially of
a negative nature
• We can say that Hobbes concedes liberty and
freedom to the individual but it is essentially
of a negative character and is conceived in
relative terms .
 Absolutism in Hobbes
• Absolutism :- (1) Unlimited sovereignty
(2) Absolute power
(3) Sovereign is the source of
Law
(4) Sovereign’s authority can
not be challenged by the people
(5) Sovereign is the chief
source of justice
 Individualism in Hobbes
• Individualism :- (1) The state is established for
the person .
(2) Hobbes consider the
sovereign is the supreme , sovereign is also a
person .
(3) Hobbes gives the person
the right to life and self defence .
 Criticism of Hobbes ‘s Theory
• Neglect of Good Side of Man
• Contract based on Force
• Fraud in Sovereign
• Locke’s criticism
• Wrong Concept of Human Nature
• Contract not Historical
• Pernicious Theory
• Green’s criticism
• Rousseau’s Criticism
 Importance of Hobbes
• Subordination of Church to State
• Secularism
• Theory of Sovereignty
• Synthesis of Absolute Sovereignty and
Individualism
• Equality of Man
• Synthesis of Elected and Absolute Authority
• Rejection of Divine origin and Divine Right
Theory
• State as Concilator of Interests
• Realism and Utility
• Materialism
• Fictitious Corporation
• Scientific Legislation
• Theory of Social Contract
 REFERENCES
• ‘Western Political Thought’ – O.P. Gauba
• ‘Western Political Thought’ - S.K.Sharma ,
Urmila Sharma
• ‘Selected Western and Indian Political
Thinkers’ – Prem Arora , Brij Grover
THANKS