Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan

Thomas Hobbes begins Leviathan with a difficult question that remains important today:

Why do human beings need government at all?

His answer begins not with government, but with human nature.

Hobbes argues that human beings are more equal than we may think. One person may be stronger, another more intelligent, but these differences are not great enough to make anyone completely safe from others. Even the strongest person can be defeated by someone weaker, especially if others join together.

This basic equality creates a problem.

People often want the same things. If two people desire something that they cannot both have, they may become rivals. Each wants to protect themselves, their possessions and their future.

From this, Hobbes identifies three important causes of conflict: competition, insecurity and the desire for reputation. People may fight for gain, for safety or because they feel that others do not respect them.

What happens if there is no common authority strong enough to control these conflicts?

Hobbes asks us to imagine such a condition.

It does not mean that everyone is fighting every minute. Rather, everyone knows that violence may occur and that there is no reliable power to stop it. People therefore have to depend mainly on themselves for their protection.

Trust becomes difficult.

The future becomes uncertain.

People cannot confidently enjoy the results of their work because someone else may take them. Agriculture, trade, knowledge, art and organised society become difficult to develop.

Most importantly, people live with continuing fear and insecurity. Hobbes famously describes life in this condition as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

This is Hobbes’s famous state of nature.

It is important, however, not to misunderstand his argument. Hobbes does not simply say that human beings are evil.

Our desires and passions are not themselves wrong. People want to survive. They want security. They want the things necessary for a comfortable life.

The problem is that without common rules and an authority able to enforce them, even reasonable people may find themselves trapped in fear and competition.

If I do not know whether you will attack me, should I protect myself first?

If you see me preparing to protect myself, will you believe that I am preparing to attack you?

Can two people who fear each other ever feel completely safe?

This is where reason enters Hobbes’s argument.

Human beings do not only fear danger. They also desire peace.

Reason tells them that peace is in their interest. Hobbes therefore argues that people should seek peace whenever it is possible. They should also be willing to give up some of their unlimited freedom, provided others are willing to do the same.

This is a crucial step.

If everyone claims complete freedom to do whatever they believe necessary, nobody can be secure. Peace therefore requires mutual restraint.

But an agreement is not enough.

People must be able to trust that others will keep it.

For Hobbes, this is where justice begins. Once people make agreements, they have an obligation to honour them. Breaking a valid agreement becomes an injustice.

Yet another problem immediately appears.

Who will make sure that agreements are respected?

Hobbes does not believe that good intentions alone are enough. If people fear that others may break the rules whenever it benefits them, trust collapses again.

There must therefore be a common power strong enough to enforce the rules and protect everyone.

This leads to the central political argument of Leviathan.

People agree to give up part of their individual freedom and place power in a common authority. In return, that authority provides something that individuals cannot reliably provide for themselves: peace and security.

For Hobbes, government is therefore not created because human beings naturally love being governed.

It is created because the alternative may be much worse.

This leaves us with questions that are still very much alive.

How much freedom are we prepared to give up for security?

Can freedom exist without order?

Can agreements survive without the power to enforce them?

How strong should government be?

And who protects people if the power created to protect them becomes too powerful itself?

The extract gives Hobbes’s answer to the problem of disorder much more clearly than it answers this final question. His priority is peace: a strong common authority is necessary because without it human beings may return to insecurity and conflict.

Perhaps this is why Leviathan continues to challenge us.

Hobbes asks us to recognise that freedom, security, law and authority cannot be considered separately. Each affects the others.

And behind them lies a question every organised society must continue to face:

How can we create enough power to protect people without allowing power itself to become the danger?

• Hera Patiniott, Alumnus, Agora Dialogue
• Dinos Toumazos, Chief Executive Officer, Agora Dialogue