Pojman relates Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies” to Hobbes’s “Leviathan” by explaining why morality is important and what happens when it doesn’t exist. Pojman uses two quotes when relating the authors account of morality. The first one is a quote made by Piggy. Piggy asked the question “Which is better - to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill” (Golding). The second quote is from the book, Leviathan. “Morality is more honored in the breach than in the observance” (Hobbes). The two quotes show how morality and our own nature conflict with each other. We can choose to do right, or we can choose to do wrong.
In Lord of the Flies, a group of young boys are faced with this choice. They are stranded on an island with no adult supervision, or rules. The group start out in a peaceful manner by selecting a leader (Ralph) and establishing rules. Eventually one of the boys in the group named Jack becomes envious of Ralphs leadership. He persuades others in the group to rebel against Ralph. Their behavior relates to what Hobbes notes in the book Leviathan, “That human beings always act out of perceived self-interest” (Pojman).
Although Ralph and a few other boys chose to make moral decisions, human nature directed the other boys’ behavior. It didn’t take long for Jack and his followers to realize that there were no consequences for their actions. Thus, they chose …show more content…
• To ameliorate human suffering.
• To promote human flourishing.
• To resolve conflicts of interest in just and orderly way.
• To assign praise and blame, reward the good and punish the guilty. Lord of the Flies, gives us one example of what can happen when we lack morality. Leviathan, offers an answer as to why the boys acted the way they did and what is needed to prevent those types of actions. Golding and Hobbes may have used different ways to give their accounts of morality, but they both agree it is needed to keep society from being in a state of
In Lord of the Flies, a group of young boys are faced with this choice. They are stranded on an island with no adult supervision, or rules. The group start out in a peaceful manner by selecting a leader (Ralph) and establishing rules. Eventually one of the boys in the group named Jack becomes envious of Ralphs leadership. He persuades others in the group to rebel against Ralph. Their behavior relates to what Hobbes notes in the book Leviathan, “That human beings always act out of perceived self-interest” (Pojman).
Although Ralph and a few other boys chose to make moral decisions, human nature directed the other boys’ behavior. It didn’t take long for Jack and his followers to realize that there were no consequences for their actions. Thus, they chose …show more content…
• To ameliorate human suffering.
• To promote human flourishing.
• To resolve conflicts of interest in just and orderly way.
• To assign praise and blame, reward the good and punish the guilty. Lord of the Flies, gives us one example of what can happen when we lack morality. Leviathan, offers an answer as to why the boys acted the way they did and what is needed to prevent those types of actions. Golding and Hobbes may have used different ways to give their accounts of morality, but they both agree it is needed to keep society from being in a state of