Calvin and Hobbes

PS 331 Participation Exercise Edelman 1. The Political Spectacle a. Edelman defines the political spectacle as, “Accounts of political issues, problems, crises, threats, and leaders now become devices for creating disparate assumptions and beliefs about the social and political world rather than factual statements. The very concept of ‘fact’ becomes irrelevant because every meaningful political object and person is an interpretation that reflects and perpetuates an ideology. Taken together,…

John Locke and Thomas Hobbes are both very influential thinkers of the middle 1600’s. Both Locke and Hobbes had two different viewpoints on people and society. John Locke insisted that when the government violated individual rights, people are permitted to rebel. However, Thomas Hobbes thought otherwise. Hobbes believed that people had no right to be rebellious. Thomas Hobbes is correct, people should not rebel even if the government violates individual rights because it could lead to a…

Everyone defines his own liberty Society is made of individualist, without individualists there would be no society. Going even further, the term society is actually an illusion and the individuals are its reality. Individualist have the choice to come to gather and to form an assemblage. Because society is just an imagination and a fiction it does not exist and individualists’ liberty is limitless. The reason why in every epoch man must seek his freedom not at the beginning but at the end of…

Please Conform “The opposite of bravery is not cowardice, but conformity” - Robert Anthony. Conformity has a negative connotation, because people like to be unique, and the world would allegedly be a dull place if everyone was exactly the same. This attitude creates a collective animosity towards communism and countries that encourage conformity. The reality is if everyone would conform to societal standards the world would have a hope of achieving peace. People need to conform, and be part of…

The writings of Henry George stand as a clear condemnation by him on the concept of privately owned land amongst other ideas which he staunchly regards as both immoral and impractical. In his work George attacks the validity of private ownership and calls for distinction between land and personal property. He depicts such ownership as being unjust, indefensible and even akin to slavery with regards to the liberties of the tenants who may reside there, urging instead for a fairer and more…

society. Thomas Hobbes believes that the sovereign will and should be given absolute power because human beings need him to supply them with the security needed for their freedoms. He is a theorist of freedom, so he understands that out of human’s nature and their freedom absolutism will be the consequences. Naturally, human beings are interested in the betterment of themselves in society; whether it be in power, money, or status; human beings are naturally selfish individuals. Hobbes claims, “I…

Machiavelli’s most famous work is The Prince. The Prince describes the cunning and immoral methods by which a prince can acquire and maintain political power. In his view, a prince should be concerned only with power and be bound only by rules that would lead to success in political actions. Machiavelli believed that the use of political powers was only rightful if it was utilized by a ruler whose personal scrupulous character was strictly virtuous. He did not think that someone who was only…

There are numerous parallels between the theories of Hobbes and Machiavelli. These provide strength to both of their arguments but their similar outlook on the relationship between human nature and political structure also provides space for similar questioning. Through the comparison of Machiavelli and Hobbes, the question of the worth of liberty arises. Liberty and security go hand in hand in that security of the populace is necessary before any individual can truly be free. But in order to…

In the citation from Leviathan, Hobbes is describing the law of nature which in essence is a general rule that is discovered through reason. Furthermore, such a law asserts human self-preservation and censures acts destructive to human life. As opposed to, a civil law, which must be written down and issued in order to be known. A law of nature is inherently known by all because it can be deduced by innate mental capabilities (such as reason and philosophy). Hobbes illustrated the terrors within…

reflections that Hobbe had toward fear, honor, and how those relate to the human character. The author begins with “The Worst part of life during wartime, which is the same as the state of nature, Hobbes claims, is the ‘“continual fear, and danger of violent death”’ (McClure, 114) I disagree with this in the perspective of Nietzsche’s “warlike” character. I would say this fear of violent death plays a part in why the warlike man is so uneasy during times of peace. Otherwise, according to Hobbes,…