How important fear is in Hobbesian political thought?
Thesis: Fear is the fundamental factor that pushes people to seek escape from State of Nature and form a Commonwealth.
Introduction
Fear in the State of Nature.
War of everyone against everyone
Pursuit of peace.
Commonwealth, created and maintained by fear.
Of covenants.
Safety in the Commonwealth and the role of fear in maintaining it. Conclusion Homo Formidolosus
Fear in the political thought of Thomas Hobbes. Introduction Hobbesian "Leviathan", being a comprehensive study of humanity, both in the State of Nature and the Commonwealth, describes also the transition between the two and the reasons for it, one of the most prominent ones is, without any doubt, fear. A …show more content…
The aforementioned "Leviathan", arguably his most important work, was written in exile in Paris and aimed to understand the chaos of the Civil Wars, while providing the guiding advice of how the country should be governed.
In Chapter XIII of this book, the life of humanity in the State of Nature is examined. The author assumes that people are in fact equal, no matter their strength of body or mind, and out of this equality arises diffidence. The goods are scarce, so not every one is able to achieve their goals. This, with no higher power to govern and establish the laws, leads to permanent war. A "war, where every man is enemy to every man" and the society is practically non-existent.
Constant fight deprives people of safety and leaves them uncertain about their fate, the feeling of "continual fear, and danger of violent death" prevails. In this state, "every man has a right to every thing; even to one another's body". There is no justice and, since there is no law in place, there is no injustice. As long as it continues, there can be no safety - one's main objective is not to live, but to survive. The life in the aforementioned conditions is described by the author as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and
Thesis: Fear is the fundamental factor that pushes people to seek escape from State of Nature and form a Commonwealth.
Introduction
Fear in the State of Nature.
War of everyone against everyone
Pursuit of peace.
Commonwealth, created and maintained by fear.
Of covenants.
Safety in the Commonwealth and the role of fear in maintaining it. Conclusion Homo Formidolosus
Fear in the political thought of Thomas Hobbes. Introduction Hobbesian "Leviathan", being a comprehensive study of humanity, both in the State of Nature and the Commonwealth, describes also the transition between the two and the reasons for it, one of the most prominent ones is, without any doubt, fear. A …show more content…
The aforementioned "Leviathan", arguably his most important work, was written in exile in Paris and aimed to understand the chaos of the Civil Wars, while providing the guiding advice of how the country should be governed.
In Chapter XIII of this book, the life of humanity in the State of Nature is examined. The author assumes that people are in fact equal, no matter their strength of body or mind, and out of this equality arises diffidence. The goods are scarce, so not every one is able to achieve their goals. This, with no higher power to govern and establish the laws, leads to permanent war. A "war, where every man is enemy to every man" and the society is practically non-existent.
Constant fight deprives people of safety and leaves them uncertain about their fate, the feeling of "continual fear, and danger of violent death" prevails. In this state, "every man has a right to every thing; even to one another's body". There is no justice and, since there is no law in place, there is no injustice. As long as it continues, there can be no safety - one's main objective is not to live, but to survive. The life in the aforementioned conditions is described by the author as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and