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Example research essay topic: Form Of Government Fear Of Death - 1,736 words

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... e power cannot be taken from the ruler or assembly of men and given to another. If this is done, then the covenant would have been broken, and according to Hobbes, breaking a covenant is injustice. In making the covenant to give authority to the sovereign, they have also every man given the sovereignty to him that bears their person, and therefore if they depose him, they take from him that which is his own, and so again it is injustice (413).

Hobbes agrees that the sovereign can commit iniquity, but not injustice or injury in the proper signification (400). This is because the covenant, or social contract as he calls it, is made between subjects and subjects, and not between the subjects and the sovereign. The sovereign cannot break the covenant because the sovereign was not author of the contract, but was given the authority by the subjects. Consequently, he that complains of injury from his sovereign, complains of that whereof he himself is author, and therefore ought not to accuse any man but himself (414). Hobbes preference of a single ruler or monarchy is based on practical grounds. He believed that an aristocratic form of government has less unity of focus and consensus building than can be realized with a monarchy.

This is because aristocracy suffers from a competition for office and influence, and he believed that a monarch can more easily act in a resolute and consistent manner than the assembly. Hobbes opposed the separation of power or mixed government, and Ebenstein and Ebenstein (1991) state that he blamed the civil war in England on the widespread opinion that sovereignty was divided between King, Lords, and Commons (401). Although it seems that Hobbes speaks mostly of two forms of government, monarchy (government by one) and aristocracy (government by a few), he identifies the third form of government as a democracy (government by the people). This is consistent with the political classifications discussed by the early philosophers like Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato; but he disagrees with them on the idea that governments can be despotic tyranny, oligarchy, and anarchy. To Hobbes, these terms are only used when a particular person dislikes a monarchical, aristocratic, or democratic form of government. This argument displays his belief and support for authority, regardless of much of the negativity that may be attributed to the ruler or rulers.

To him, as long as the subjects are protected from danger from outside or within, then the price that they pay is justifiable. His main drive was to strengthen the idea of an absolute state, but he did this without subscribing to the concept of the divine-rights-of-kings, or to the idea that monarchy was a moral institution. He did not agree with the early philosophers that the monarchs are naturally predisposed for the job. Leo Strauss (1961) sees Hobbes political philosophy as being characterized by the movement away from the idea of monarchy as the most natural form of State to the idea of monarchy as the most perfect artificial State (129).

Hobbes was less concerned about the legitimacy of government, and more concerned with the pragmatic and utilitarian effectiveness of government. The monarch or aristocratic government cannot hide its ineffectiveness behind the shield of divine, natural, or traditional authority, but had to be productive to retain the right to be respected. Hobbes advocacy of absolute power for the sovereign does not mean that all the rights of the subjects are eliminated. He gives instances in which subjects can disobey the ruler or rulers. A man cannot be compelled to kill, wound, or maim himself; and he cannot be commanded not to defend himself from attack, or to abstain from food and other elements necessary for his survival. A subject is not obligated to incriminate himself, unless with the assurance of a pardon.

He should not be compelled to undertake any dishonorable duties, unless the end thereof justifies the means, and is an end to which the sovereign was ordained. This means that one should only be compelled to undertake a dishonorable act if it contributes to liberty, security, and peace for all; and does not conflict with the other individual rights that are outside the covenant. Hobbes was of the opinion that the obligation of subjects to the sovereign is understood to last as long, and no longer, than the power lasts by which he is able to protect them. For the right men have by nature to protect themselves when none else can protect them, can by no covenant be relinquished (419). Here he seems to give his endorsement of revolutions carried out against a ruler or rulers who lose the ability or will to protect the citizens from outside attack, or from lawlessness within, that threatens the life and livelihood of the subjects. He believed that if another usurps the power of a ruler, then the subjects are obligated to accept the authority of the one who seized power.

As Lemos (1978) writes, regardless of whether the revolutionary party overthrows a good or a bad sovereign, they have the power and the right to institute a new sovereign once the old is overthrown (68). This acceptance of revolution as a means to gain power is probably what allowed Hobbes to accept the rule of Oliver Cromwell and the English Parliamentarians after the assassination of King Charles I in the 1640 s. Upon returning to England in 1951, he declared his recognition of the authority of the Republican regime led by Cromwell as the sovereign power of England. His argument in support of the usurpation of power also reveals Hobbes colonialist views. Lemos (1978) explains that in Hobbes opinion, if a sovereign who is vanquished by a foreign conqueror submits to the conqueror and accepts him as sovereign, his subjects are thereby obligated also to accept the conqueror as sovereign (68). This means that the citizens of a country that is conquered by another country are obligated to accept the colonizer as sovereign.

These views were expressed during a period of colonization around the world by the European countries like England, France, and Spain. Summary. Hobbes explanation of the origins of the State is predicated on his fundamental opinion that fear, or more accurately fear of death, is the force which makes men clear-sighted, and vanity the force which makes men blind (Strauss, 1961: 132). It is this fear which forces man to seek the organization of a State with a sovereign ruler or rulers to whom every man will relinquish most of their natural rights in order to secure the most important rights. These include the right to a life free from the fear of death by another, and the freedom to live in peace with everyone. Once the State has been formed and power given to its ruler or rulers, that power resides there as long as the ruler can protect those being ruled.

If another dominant force defeats the ruler, then that new ruler is given the sovereign authority over all those who are ruled. The ruler of a State is not endowed with any natural or God given advantage over those he rule, but gets his authority through the will of the people. Unlike Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle who believe in the superior attributes of rulers / guardians , Hobbes posits that every man is born equal. This would imply that a rulers right to rule would depend on his ability to amass the necessary resources, and to broker the kind of influence that would enable him to maintain his position of dominance.

This seems to contradict the fundamental arguments about equality among men, since the fact that such a person who is be able to commit such resources to governance, and to command such alliances with the influential entities could not be seen as average in the community of equals. However, the argument can be made that to gain an advantage during life does not mean that you were born superior to others, but indicates that you have developed useful knowledge, skills, and abilities over time. The Hobbesian model does not provide a democratic way of removing a ruler from power. In Hobbes view, once something has been given to someone, it becomes a possession of that person to keep and use for the intended purpose, until that person sees it fit to relinquish ownership.

This is what, in his opinion, should be the case with political power as long as he who holds power can use it to protect his subjects. This means that the only way to remove a ruler is through revolution, and a revolution is just since it means that there is someone more capable of protecting the lives of the subjects by virtue of the fact that he is more powerful than the existing ruler. The people cannot criticize a ruler for unjust laws, since it is the people who gave him the authority to make laws in the first place, and therefore are as guilty as the ruler for any unjust laws. Hobbes makes the point that the only bad form of government is one that cannot provide security for its people.

Governments are called despotic by those who do not like the rule of that government, but all governments are legitimate. The government cannot take some of the rights of individuals, and these include the right to protect oneself from harm. A person cannot be compelled to incriminate himself, carry out dishonorable duties, or refuse food and medicine. The point is also made that while a man is obligated to abide by the law, he cannot be compelled to believe in it (Ebenstein & Ebenstein, 1991). Hobbes philosophy is therefore one of power, but a power that is bestowed on a person by the people over which it is to be exercised, or taken by an outside or inside force to whom the people would owe their subservience. Bibliography Ebenstein, Alan O.

and William Ebenstein. Great Political Thinkers: Plato to the Present. Orlando: Harcourt Brace & Co. , 1991. Lemos, Ramon M. Hobbes and Locke: Power and Consent. Athens, GA: The University Georgia Press, 1978.

Lynch, Thomas D. Public Budgeting in America. 4 th Edition. Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization. St.

Paul: West Publishing Company, 1991. Strauss, Leo. The Political Philosophy of Hobbes. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961.


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Research essay sample on Form Of Government Fear Of Death

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