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Modestas iugda

Hobbes on the State of Nature


Hobbes believes that living in the state of nature, without a government, live would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. There would also be no industry, no scientific knowledge or art, but only a continuous fear of violent death. Hobbes considers that because humans are always seeking felicity, the state of nature will lead into the state of constant warfare. First of all lets analyze Hobbess view on human nature. In his opinion humans are machines with desires seeking felicity, which means they are never satisfied with what they have. But you cant get everything you want unless you have enough power. This means, that humans will continue to seek power in order to get what they want now, and will want later. Eventually this will lead to war. There are many reasons why this eventually will lead to war. In the state of nature humans are roughly equal in their ability to kill one another, by either power or deception. Also because people are machines with desires and there is a scarcity of goods they will try to attack each other in order to get what they want. Life also wouldnt be quite as pleasant as in a society with laws as we would have to life with a constant fear of losing everything we own or being killed. Of course you could be just murdered, even without having any to attack attacking someone, as you might be seen as a possible treat and be killed out of precaution. Or maybe just to establish the attackers reputation. Actually killing others is an act of individual rationality in order to ensure their survival. Living peacefull in the state of nature just doesnt work because it would require to be sure that everyone will pursue peace too. This is so rare in the state of nature that it never happens. Even if you would consider morals, they would not work, as there is no one to set a right or wrong. Of course Hobbes has proposed a solution, which states that there is a sovereign that will punish the ones, who the break the laws. From there on people can safely live in collective rationality, where no one harms another. To sum it up, Hobbes believes that life in the state of nature would be miserable, short and with constant fear of death. He argues that felicity will lead us into a state of constant warfare. In Hobbess opinion the only sensible solution to this problem, would be to set up an authority, which would punish the ones breaking the law.

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