Thomas Hobbes - Enlightenment Philosopher

Thomas Hobbes (5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679), in some older texts Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury,[a] was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy. His 1651 book Leviathan established social contract theory, the foundation of most later Western political philosophy.

Though on rational grounds a champion of absolutism for the sovereign, Hobbes also developed some of the fundamentals of European liberal thought: the right of the individual; the natural equality of all men; the artificial character of the political order (which led to the later distinction between civil society and the state); the view that all legitimate political power must be "representative" and based on the consent of the people; and a liberal interpretation of law which leaves people free to do whatever the law does not explicitly forbid.

Highlights:

• In nature, people were cruel, greedy and selfish. They would fight, rob, and oppress one another.
• To escape this people would enter into a social contract: they would give up their freedom in return for the safety and order of an organized society.
• Therefore, Hobbes believed that a powerful government like an absolute monarchy was best for society – it would impose order and compel obedience. It would also be able to suppress rebellion.
• His most famous work was called Leviathan.
• Hobbes has been used to justify absolute power in government.
• His view of human nature was negative, or pessimistic. Life without laws and controls would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Quotes:

"Life is Nasty, Brutish, and Short"

"A man's conscience and his judgment is the same thing; and as the judgment, so also the conscience, may be erroneous."

"Curiosity is the lust of the mind."

"In the state of nature profit is the measure of right."

"Not believing in force is the same as not believing in gravitation."

"Leisure is the Mother of Philosophy."

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