Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Hobbes' Political Philosophy | NY Essay

Hobbes argues that the state of nature is a state of perpetual war of all against all and consequently, the life of man in the state of nature ?solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short? (xiii, 9). ? In this paper I will explain Hobbes? arguments that support his claim to the state of nature. ? I will also assess these arguments and state that they are not valid and, therefore, not sound. ? I will then talk about the most controversial premise, relative scarcity of goods, and how Hobbes would respond to the objections of this premise. ? I will then talk about his response to this objection being unsuccessful. ? Finally, I will assess whether it will be possible to leave the state of nature given the factors Hobbes describes that create the state of nature. ? I will show that Hobbes? argument on how men will leave the state of nature is a valid and sound argument.

According to Hobbes this war of ?all against all? comes from three key points. ? First, Hobbes states that there is a rough equality among men. ? Hobbes means by equality of men, that one man is not strong or intelligent enough that he can overpower two men. ? Secondly, because of this equality between men, if there is competition for the same goods, men will begin to distrust each other. ? Lastly, Hobbes states that because of this mistrust there is a cascade effect. ? The anticipation of one man being attacked causes them to attack the other because they consider it a better option to attack, rather than wait and be attacked. ? According to Hobbes this leads to a war of all against all.
This is an invalid argument and therefore unsound. ? I will show that this argument is invalid by showing that because of the equality of men there is a fear among men. ? The premise dealing with the equality of men makes this argument invalid because if all men were considered equal, then men would be in constant fear of one another. ? This is due to the lack of ability to overpower each other. ? They would be unwilling to attack each?

Source: http://nyessay.com/argument/hobbes-political-philosophy/

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