INTRODUCTION
After the period of political disintegration culminating in the English Civil war, Thomas Hobbes espoused the theory of social contract which instigated disparate reactions and profoundly impacted the political philosophy of his time. In Leviathan, believing that a system devoid of government is systematically prone to dissolution into a devastating condition of war, he unified the concepts of civil polity under governance of an undivided and absolute sovereign and the laws of nature. It is there submitted that there is a reciprocal relationship between political obedience and protection: we choose to enter and live in society to save ourselves from the abominable state of nature. Considering that the sovereign promotes social …show more content…
Disputes arise when men desire the same thing that they cannot both enjoy, in which case they become enemies and endeavour to destroy or subdue the other in achieving their end . If one is to perish, there is no possibility of fulfilling future desires. Hence, “of all Passions, that which inclineth men least to break the Lawes, is Fear. Nay, it is the onely thing, that makes men keep them” …show more content…
Indeed, there are different classes and degrees of desires, suggesting that the fear of death could only very present in our minds when we are fulfilling basic survival needs. All included, even if the desire is rendered complex, fear of not achieving and of loss would pervade, as we desire to hold onto or acquire those things. It can therefore be suggested that the primary reason why men ought to comply with the law appears not to be out of a moral claim based upon an obligation derived from consent, but from the fact that they fear death or loss. The concept of protection can be interpreted in a broader sense, in that it would not merely include protection of a man’s bodily integrity, but also his assets, and everything a man acquires that he could not have done so with his own
After the period of political disintegration culminating in the English Civil war, Thomas Hobbes espoused the theory of social contract which instigated disparate reactions and profoundly impacted the political philosophy of his time. In Leviathan, believing that a system devoid of government is systematically prone to dissolution into a devastating condition of war, he unified the concepts of civil polity under governance of an undivided and absolute sovereign and the laws of nature. It is there submitted that there is a reciprocal relationship between political obedience and protection: we choose to enter and live in society to save ourselves from the abominable state of nature. Considering that the sovereign promotes social …show more content…
Disputes arise when men desire the same thing that they cannot both enjoy, in which case they become enemies and endeavour to destroy or subdue the other in achieving their end . If one is to perish, there is no possibility of fulfilling future desires. Hence, “of all Passions, that which inclineth men least to break the Lawes, is Fear. Nay, it is the onely thing, that makes men keep them” …show more content…
Indeed, there are different classes and degrees of desires, suggesting that the fear of death could only very present in our minds when we are fulfilling basic survival needs. All included, even if the desire is rendered complex, fear of not achieving and of loss would pervade, as we desire to hold onto or acquire those things. It can therefore be suggested that the primary reason why men ought to comply with the law appears not to be out of a moral claim based upon an obligation derived from consent, but from the fact that they fear death or loss. The concept of protection can be interpreted in a broader sense, in that it would not merely include protection of a man’s bodily integrity, but also his assets, and everything a man acquires that he could not have done so with his own