Why Thomas Hobbes Matters Today

Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan was a groundbreaking work in its time, and the ideas he put forth still hold importance and relevance to us today. His essential argument is that people are by nature self-interested and concerned primarily with their own survival. Any anarchic structure of society would thus be in effect a constant state of war, which can only be stopped if the participants submit themselves to an absolute authority. This argument is easily understood, and the elements of truth in it are evident anywhere authority breaks down (Somalia, Yugoslavia during the breakup, etc..). Despite this, virtually no one in today’s world, and particularly in the developed world, would agree with all aspects of Hobbes’ thought, especially his assertion that we must always submit to the Leviathan, who may act as brutally to us as he so wishes, trampling upon our individualism, so long as absolute authority is maintained.

My primary area of disagreement with Hobbes philosophical thought is his simplistic construction of human instinct in such a way that it always manifests itself as a drive for individual survival. A cursory study of human history shows many instances where man has martyred himself for some perceived cause, be that his family, his faith, his country, his culture, or some other reason. In smaller ways too, men have shown a capacity to act against this individualistic nature (survival instinct), offering others sustenance or shelter at their own expense. Indeed, a woman in nature must do this biologically if she is to fulfill her natural purpose of reproduction, weakening herself in order to provide nutrients for her child (both before and after birth). Although a complete survey is likely impossible, it is relatively simple to examine a few prominent examples of individual sacrifice.

Family sacrifice – As mentioned above, a mother must routinely go through sacrifice for her child. Parents in general will weaken or even martyr themselves for their children, or even their spouse. This can perhaps be explained through the urgings of evolution, as evolutionarily each individual is just a vehicle for carrying our genes to the next generation.
Religious sacrifice – Religious martyrs are a timely example of individual sacrifice, as the individual kills himself for a perceived spiritual gain. Perhaps this can be explained by the belief in an afterlife, making this sacrifice just a rational decision to ensure a better eternal life, but it still contradicts Hobbes’ insistence on survival in this plane.
Sacrifice for country or ideals – This sacrifice is hardest to justify, as one must extrapolate the survival mechanism onto ensuring the survival of certain ideas or culture as being more important than the individual, which Hobbes does not seem to allow for.

Although it seems clear that Hobbes does not account for the survival mechanism’s transcendence of the individual, could we instead view Hobbes arguments n the sepcies level. In the above examples, we could construct a unified argument which asserted that every case of persoanl sacrifice as done for the greater benefit of advancing humanity. However, I would argue further that the survival mechanism is not always the proper construct to view a man’s actions. Instead, I would argue that each individual has within them an ethical self which is capable of overcoming their survival instinct, and making decision’s based instead on a greater good. Looking at the world through this medium, it is easy to see whereby a man might sacrifice himself for a cause he viewed as ethically right, ignoring his survival impulse. If this view is accepted, it also leads one to see why Hobbes Leviathan would be unjust in his ability to terrorize the individual for the good of society, as the intrinsic value of each human being must be protected, often even at the expense of society, an idea which has been used often in our own country’s history.

This is not to say Hobbes’ theories do not have worth; they have been valuable in constructing theories of international relations, and I believe they do largely explain the evolutionary side of man’s dual nature. Also, there is an important and often overlooked part of Hobbes’ theory which I think has been essential to shaping Western society, and at some level has contributed to the success and development of the Western world. This is his insistence that the power of the Leviathan comes from the people. In the 1600’s much political thought was based upon the idea that sovereigns ruled by a divine right, (given to them by God) and thus their authority existed outside of their subjects. By constructing a theory where the sovereign’s authority comes from the people, Hobbes helped put in motion what would become the separation of church and state, and eventually the ability of people to check the authority of the executive through certain other institutions (admittedly, he did not intend to argue for a modern republic). The increased importance of this idea coincides with the rise of Western power, in contrast with the decline of Persian and Arab empires, where this idea did not gain primacy (although it existed in some form), and helped set in motion the power structure of today’s world.