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What is Hobbes' view on sovereignty and human nature respectively and the relation between them? Without a sovereign, society will be in a constant state of war, Hobbes claims. (Robertson, p. 77) In order to avoid this constant battle, people need to turn over all of their rights and their freedom to the ruler and agree to enter a covenant. This covenant cannot be broken. It is so vital, Hobbes says, that anyone who breaks it will be ostracized from society and expelled from the state. Hobbes has a very negative view of human nature. He feels that all people are self-serving.
They act in ways that only benefit themselves. Every action we perform, no matter how charitable or benevolent, is done for reasons that are ultimately self-serving. In a state of nature where no government exists this behavior will be very dangerous or in Hobbes words, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short (Hobbes, p. 139). Hobbes suggests that people fight for three reasons. The first is that we are competitive. There is a limited amount of material supplies, and we are in a constant struggle with one another to obtain the most.
The second is that nobody trusts anyone. Since we are self-serving, it is probable that everyone is also. It is unlikely to trust somebody when you know that they are looking out for their own interest above yours. The third is for glory.
People like to be known as the best or as powerful. In order to preserve their powerful reputation, they must be hostile. Because of the peoples natural tendency to fight with one another, the state of nature is a perpetual war of every man against every man. In this war no morality exists, and everyone is in a constant state of fear. Hobbes establishes specific laws of nature, which aim to preserve the human life. Defined by Hobbes, A Law of Nature is a precept, or general rule, found out by reason, by which a person is forbidden to do which is destructive of his life, or that takes away the means of preserving the same; and to omit that by which he thinks it may be best preserved (Hobbes, p. 121).
The first three are the most important because they establish the basis for ending the war caused by the state of nature. The first is to seek peace and follow it. Reason suggests that peace is better than war, so one should try to go about obtaining it. The second says that man will do everything possible to achieve peace.
War is not in mans best interest; so it is best to avoid it. The third is based on both the first and the second. It says that all people should willing give up all of their liberties. The mutual transferring of these rights is a covenant, and one becomes obligated to uphold it. (Robertson, p. 113) Hobbes does allow for the right of self-defense. Self-preservation, according to Hobbes is the only reason for entering the contract to begin with. The covenant would not be worth anything if one were forced to give up that right.
Simply making contracts will not in itself secure peace. The problem with all covenants is that as self-interested people, we have an incentive to violate a contract when it serves our self-interest. To make things work, a sovereign must be established and given unlimited power. He has the right to punish us if we violate the contracts.
This, Hobbes believes, ensures that we do not break the covenant. Hobbes establishes a sovereign who is given the right to uphold all contracts. This sovereign can be either a single person or an entire assembly. He discusses all of the sovereigns basic rights. His subjects must remain loyal to him, and they cannot be freed of their contracts. He makes all laws, but he cannot be unjust to his subjects.
Laws determine what is just and unjust. He has complete power over legislative and judicial power, and he can award and punish. Basically, his relationship with the people can be described as a mutual relation between protection and obedience. He has no obligations to the people except to enforce all the laws of nature. The contract is not between the sovereign and the citizens but rather citizen to citizen. Hobbes thinks that it is so important for us to stay away from the state of nature that we would give up anything, except our life, to avoid it.
Will people enter it if it means giving up their right to choose who to marry or what religion to practice? Some people may take their chances. In order for the contract to work, everybody must make a mutual decision to commit. A problem arises in trying to convince everybody that it is necessary to surrender his or her rights to a sovereign. If the state of nature were at all pleasant, nobody would be willing to give up his or her liberties. Hobbes view of human nature is that men are basically imperfect. (Robertson, p. 120) They are not trust-worthy and prone to fight and ruin society.
By giving the power to control society to one man, life will be better for all. But this sovereign is also only a man or a group of men. They are accustomed to all the flaws of any other man. Since the sovereigns position is so important, it is necessary that they be a qualified ruler. One may question whether the imperfect man can actually be a qualified ruler. For example, Hitler was an all-powerful sovereign, but is also responsible for the killing of millions of individuals.
It may seem as though Germany would have been better in its original state of nature. That may be true for the number of people who lost their lives. For the survivors, life was most probably horrendous. It still better than living in the state of nature which exists without the sovereign.
In that state, nobody can survive for long. The bond of the covenant is vital in order for it to work. Once a person breaks it, it opens up a gateway for everybody to break it. It is imperative that nobody acts against it. Reason suggests that it should not be hard for the sovereign to keep control, because rational people can be expected to give up some of their freedom willingly in order to avoid the risk of being in the state of nature. The problem arises when a person says, It is in my self-interest to break the covenant. (Robertson, p. 139) There must be some reason fort to feel obligated to fulfill his contract.
Hobbes suggests that there be a harsh punishment in order to secure the need for keeping the covenants. He states, Covenants entered into by fear, in the condition of mere nature, are obligatory. (Hobbes, p. 124) If people are scared of what will happen if they break the covenant, they will not break it. He therefore that breaketh his covenant, and consequently declared that he thinks with reason do so, cannot be received into any society, that unite themselves for peace and defense, but by the error of them that receive him; nor when he is received be retained in it, without seeing the danger of their error; which errors a man cannot reasonably reckon upon as the means of his security: and therefore if he be left, or cast out of society, he perished. (Hobbes, p. 127) When a person decides to break their covenant, they will be expelled from society. They will be forced to reenter the constant state of nature, which will lead to their premature death.
The fear of being ostracized should outweigh the benefit of breaking the covenant. It is the foolish man who does not see this reason. Looking at the short-term gain, he sees only what he wants and the benefits it will bring him. He does not look at the long range. If he did, he would realize that breaking the covenant is against his self-interest. Once it is known, that he broke this covenant he will be exiled and no longer received in any community.
Everyones ultimate goal is survival. Nobody wants to surrender their life before they naturally should. Hobbes says that being thrown out of society will cause an early death. Outside of society there is a condition of war wherein every man to every man is an enemy and in this state, no man can ever hope to defend himself without some help. (Hobbes, p. 91) But in the state of nature he will find none, because he which declared he thinks it is reason to deceive those that help him, can in reason expect no other means of safety than what can be had from his own single power. (Hobbes, p. 91) Everyone outside of society has proved that they cannot be trusted. This will result in the competitive, dishonest, self-serving state that people wanted to be free from. Life will be short and harsh.
Although the fool thinks that they will better off killing somebody who they really dislike, it will only lead to his untimely demise. Covenants will work; they have for centuries. Every nation has laws. These laws are binding agreements in which people give up some of their freedom in order to secure the protection of their lives.
Words Count: 1, 551. Bibliography: Hobbes, T. Leviathan. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1990. Robertson, G.
C. Hobbes. New York: Random House, 1986.
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Research essay sample on State Of Nature View Of Human Nature
