Hobbes; Background

Question 1

Where and when was Thomas Hobbes born?

Answer 1

Wiltshire in 1588

Question 2

What was happening when he was born?

Answer 2

At that moment, the Spanish Armada were coming and attacking the British Coast (Spanish fleet of 130 ships that wanted to invade England)

Question 3

What happened to Hobbes’ mother during the Spanish armada?

Answer 3

She arguably went into labour prematurely due to terror of the Spanish Armada.

Question 4

Hobbes says his mother gave birth to twins, why?

Answer 4

Hobbes and Fear.

Question 5

What does his birth story alert us to?

Answer 5

That fear is central to how Hobbes thinks of the world and human nature.

Question 6

Was Hobbes elite?

What was his father’s job?

Answer 6

No , not from an elite background; poor family.

His father had no profession, he was a drunk.

Question 7

Who paid for Hobbes education?

Answer 7

His rich uncle.

Question 8

Where did Hobbes go at the age of 14?

Answer 8

Oxford

Question 9

What type of education would Hobbes have had?

Answer 9

humanist education.

Question 10

List two subjects Hobbes would have done?

Answer 10

Classical history
Grammer
Moral philosophy

Question 11

What did Hobbes later become suspicious of that he studied at school?

Answer 11

classical history.

Question 12

What was the normal career path for someone who went to Oxford?

Answer 12

would become a clergyman, lawyer or tutor in an aristocratic house.

Question 13

What profession did Hobbes follow?

Who did he spend his entire life working for?

Answer 13

Became a tutor and spent entire life working for earl of Devonshire.

Question 14

What did his job give him a lot of time to do?

Answer 14

Study and think

Question 15

What did he begin his writing career doing?

Answer 15

Translating Thucydides translation of war.

Question 16

What was he interested in by Thucydides?

Answer 16

Interested in the fact that Athens loses great war against Bart because Athens is a democracy.

Question 17

What did Hobbes think about democracy?

Answer 17

That its an unstable thing, tends to bad decisions

Question 18

Who is it easy to fall prey to in democracy?

Answer 18

Demagogues who manipulate the demos

Question 19

List two types of people that would have been alienated by Hobbes way of political thinking?

Answer 19

monarchists
republicans
democrats
any political affiliation in 17nth century.

Question 20

Was Hobbes a monarch, a democrat or a nazi?

Answer 20

lolll

He was a monarchist

Question 21

What was the traditional way of justifying absolute monarchy?

Answer 21

through divine right, kings rule by divine law, chosen by God.

Question 22

Hobbes defended monarchy in a modern, secular way by suggesting …

Answer 22

that it’s all about self interest; individuals realise its in their individual interest to subject themselves to absolute political authority for protection/ self preservation.

Question 23

His argument about monarchical government is motivated primarily by?

Answer 23

protection.

Question 24

Should you have any loyalty for the monarchy regime?

Answer 24

Absolutely not, if not in best interest, you should transfer your loyalties.

Question 25

Political context to Leviathan; What is the wider problem in 17nth century Europe?

Answer 25

Religious warfare; tail end of religious wars

Question 26

Political context to Leviathan; What was just coming to an end at the time of Hobbes writing Leviathan?

Answer 26

30 year war that raged in germany

Question 27

Political context to Leviathan; religious divisions translated into …

Answer 27

political divisions into civil war.

Question 28

Political context to Leviathan; English civil war was a religious conflict but it was also about the scope of royal authority, why?

Answer 28

Steward monarchy made a demand for finance and demand was scorned by parliament who wanted a degree of political reform before finance.

Question 29

Political context to Leviathan; What did the english civil war make a debate about? (to do with crown)

Answer 29

What rights and privileges does crown actually have?

Question 30

Intellectual context to Leviathan; Hobbes is a child of the

Answer 30

early enlightenment.

Question 31

Intellectual context to Leviathan; What was Hobbes interested in?

Answer 31

mathematics and optics.

Question 32

Intellectual context to Leviathan; What was the general scepticism about in European philosophy at the time?

Answer 32

Does diversity of human customs cast doubt on moral universals (is there a universal good or bad when we encounter customs so alien to our own?)

Question 33

Intellectual context to Leviathan; What spurred on the debate about human diversity?

Answer 33

Encounter between Europe and new world.

Question 34

Intellectual context to Leviathan; At the time of Hobbes and Grotius, how did natural rights allow you to do illiberal things?

Answer 34

natural rights allowed you to do illiberal things because you have the right to enslave yourself if its for self preservation.

Question 35

Intellectual context to Leviathan; What did Grotius say right and wrong and acceptance?

Answer 35

should accept enormous diversity of ideas about what’s right and wrong.

Question 36

Intellectual context to Leviathan; What does everyone have the universal right to? and what is universally unjust? according to Grotius?

Answer 36

all have a right to self-preservation.

Unnecessary harming others is unjust.

Question 37

Hobbes’ believes in treating all philosophy as a…

Answer 37

single system.

Question 38

According to Hobbes, can you examine one area of knowledge independently?

Answer 38

No

Question 39

List the three branches that Hobbes’ philosophical system is divided into?
(What is one of the questions he asks in reference to this branch)

Answer 39

physics; what is the world made up of? Is it matter? Do things move randomly?
human nature; what are human beings like? How do they behave and think?
politics: life of the citizen, what do these humans do when they live together in society.