Thomas Hobbes: Nature and Origins of Human Thought, Emotion, and Society
Introduction: The philosophies of Thomas Hobbes are inarguably essential foundations in materialistic thought. Idealists during his time believed that there reality is made up of concepts and nonmatter. In response to the challenge of explaining concepts that seemed only explicable through idealist thinking (such as thoughts and emotions), Hobbes used logic and reasoning to develop materialist theories – some impressively similar in nature to neurobiology. His pessimistic views of society are drawn from events in his personal life, primarily the English Civil War. During this time, the horrid events he witnessed caused him to develop a lack of faith in the nature of man. The concepts he created, as shown in Elements of Law and Leviathan due to the also relevant and applicable to current political examples. During the Age of Enlightenment, Hobbes took an early stand against Divine Law and monarchy, and developed social contract theory. He firmly believed that the state of nature and man is naturally chaotic1, and therefore a strong governmental system must be put in place to control society and keep man under control.2 Hobbes proves that incorporeal substances are unimportant, as they are insignificant from the material world and therefore can not exist. He analyzes the functions of humans using only physical and tangible premises first. He follows by using certain concepts from the conclusions
1 Hobbes, Thomas, and Richard Tuck. Leviathan. Ch I
2 Ross, George MacDonald. Starting With Hobbes p. 26
he arrives at to help illustrate the reasoning behind his political philosophies – all of which seem verifiable and applicable to the modern-day world.
Thesis:
Hobbes materialistic attitudes are strongly demonstrated in his text Leviathan, the book encompasses not only political and social contract theories, it also contains irrefutable explanations about “state of nature”, the origins of human thought, emotion, and society. Hobbes’ states that all human thoughts
1 Hobbes, Thomas, and Richard Tuck. Leviathan. Ch I
2 Ross, George MacDonald. Starting With Hobbes p. 26
he arrives at to help illustrate the reasoning behind his political philosophies – all of which seem verifiable and applicable to the modern-day world.
Thesis:
Hobbes materialistic attitudes are strongly demonstrated in his text Leviathan, the book encompasses not only political and social contract theories, it also contains irrefutable explanations about “state of nature”, the origins of human thought, emotion, and society. Hobbes’ states that all human thoughts
Bibliography: Hobbes, Thomas, and Richard Tuck. Leviathan. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996. Print. This is one of the best editions of Hobbes’ Leviathan. This is a primary source from the person who is the subject of the essay. The Leviathan is the main source of where Hobbes’ analysis on the origins of human thought, emotion and society come from. Obviously since this a primary source, there is no real antithesis to his analysis and it’s presented in a factual manner. However, this source is still the most useful when it comes to understanding the topic and being able to understand Hobbes’ logic. Ross, George MacDonald. Starting With Hobbes. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2009. George MacDonald Ross is Director of the Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies and Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Leeds, UK. In this work, Ross presents a background of Hobbes’ philosophy, starting with an introduction of his early life and continuing into his different theories. The author’s point of view is not very evident, as the purpose of this book is to provide background information on the philosophies of Hobbes. This book is not very biased. It does not say whether his philosophies are correct or incorrect, it merely states what they are and how they came to be. This resource is very useful for understanding the philosophies of Hobbes in an unbiased manner. Kavka, Gregory S. Hobbesian Moral and Political Theory. Irvine: University of California Press, 1979. Gregory S. Kavka was a professor of Philosophy and Social Science at the University of California. This source presents information on Hobbes‘s theories, including the descriptive theory and the normative theory. The author disagrees with the point of view of Hobbes, which is evident as he states that his works contain important errors in method, assumptions, reasoning and conclusions. This source is biased, as the author has such a strong point of view on Hobbes’s theories. Also, since he taught philosophy and social science, he has been influenced by the view of other philosophers which may contradict those of Hobbes. This source is useful in examining the different theories of Hobbes in a detailed manner. Coleman, Frank M. Hobbes and America. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977. Frank Coleman taught politics at LaSalle College in Philadelphia. This source presents information on Hobbes’ input into American constitutionalism. It deals with his idea of how governments are created. The author’s point of view is that American constitutionalism is the product of a revolutionary movement in political thought, which is embodied in Hobbes’s major works. He agrees with Hobbes’s ideas. This source is biased because Coleman taught politics at a college. His political point of view is very biased. This resource is very useful for discussing how Hobbes developed his ideas about the formation of governments and how they are useful.