РефератыИностранный языкLeLeviathan By Hobbes Essay Research Paper Thomas

Leviathan By Hobbes Essay Research Paper Thomas

Leviathan By Hobbes Essay, Research Paper


Thomas Hobbes in his book Leviathan, during the course of his argument about the


social contract we make to surrender our rights of nature a sovereign in


exchange for order and peace touches the subject of liberty. Hobbes defines


liberty as ?the absence of opposition( by opposition, I mean external


impediments of motion).? (Ch 21, p.136). In his argument, Hobbes claims that


this state of liberty is man?s natural state in which man fully exercises his


rights of nature. Hobbes claims that this state of nature leads to warfare and a


short life of strife due to everyone exercising or violating these rights. The


answer then to Hobbes is for every one to forfeit these rights of nature and


create the social contract and surrender to a sovereign in exchange for order.


Though how much liberty is left to the subject once entering the social


contract? Hobbes states ?The liberty of a subject lieth, therefore, only in


those things which, in regulating their actions, the sovereign hath


praetermitted (such as is the liberty to buy, and sell, and and otherwise


contract with one another; to choose their own abode, their own diet, their own


trade of life, and institute their children as the themselves think fit; and the


like).? (Ch21, p. 138). In other words the only liberty of subjects is that


which is not regulated by

any law created by the sovereign to whom all natural


rights and liberty are surrendered to by agreeing to the social contract.


According to the quote subjects are only free to conduct personal business as


see fit, such as eating, sleeping, day to day business dealing, how one chooses


to upbringing their children. It implies that upon entering the social contract


the subject?s liberty or unrestricted movement is now forfeited except in any


area that the sovereign has not decided to regulate by passing laws regulate or


is impossible to. Hobbes overall argument asserts that in order to escape the


war filled state of nature we must surrender our natural rights(liberty/absence


of restriction) and liberty and pledge our obedience to the sovereign in


exchange for the creation of a peaceful orderly society. Thus we agree to the


social contract where the sovereign(who is outside the contract) is supreme.


While we give up our liberty in exchange for order, the Sovereign retains all


his rights to nature and is accountable only to God. Why does the sovereign


retain his liberty, while we only retain that which the sovereign has decided


not to regulate? because the sovereign uses his liberty to act on our behalf. We


in theory are the author of every action decided by the sovereign who in theory


acts only in our interest because it would benefit the sovereign to do so.

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