Hobbes Discussion (for final exam)

Question 1

What is the state of nature for Hobbes?

Answer 1

The state of nature for Hobbes is a state of war

Question 2

Why is the nature of state in a state of war?

Answer 2

The nature of state is in a state of war because there are isolated individuals who are free and equal and because each individual is understood as a cause and effect mechanism.

Question 3

Why are isolated individuals free and equal according to Hobbes?

Answer 3

They are free and equal because there is no authority in the state of nature. They are therefore by nature equal because one’s inferior qualities can be offset by one’s other qualities.

Question 4

For Hobbes, what men feel and think are just effects of?

Answer 4

For Hobbes, what men feel and think are just effects of the vital motions of the body. They are internal and inherent. For Hobbes, the physical processes happening in one’s body is the cause and the effect is what we feel and think.

Question 5

If the vital motions of the body are in danger and is the cause, what is the effect?

Answer 5

Pain

Question 6

If the vital motions of the body are secured and is the cause, what is the effect?

Answer 6

Pleasure

Question 7

Explain and identify the 2 types of pain and pleasure?

Answer 7

There are 2 types of pain and pleasure. There is physical pain and pleasure. The level of agreement for this type of pain and pleasure is very high which means that there is almost a 99% agreement among men. On the other hand, the second type of pain and pleasure is moral pain and pleasure. There is no level of agreement for this type of pain and pleasure and so it is difficult to find a common ground.

Question 8

Explain and identify Hobbes’s relativist argument

Answer 8

Hobbes’s relativist argument is that moral values are individually subjective. They are individually subjective because what is good is based on what your body finds pleasure. What is good for our body

Question 9

Explain and identify Hobbes’s objectivist argument

Answer 9

Hobbes’s objectivist argument is that even though all men are different, all men agree that the greatest evil is death and that everyone has the natural right to life and as such as has the right to self defense and only to self defense.

Question 10

It is the the right to self defense and the right only to self defense

Answer 10

Grotian Minimalist Ethics

Question 11

Identify and explain the problems of ethical application in the state of nature

Answer 11

Although Hobbes adopts the Grotian minimalist ethics, he recognizes a problem when it is applied in the state of nature. He recognizes that in the absence of authority or social rules in the state of nature, no one can really know when one is in danger because each man’s desire and hatred guide his action, and therefore each man will decide when he is in danger. Therefore, this creates personal uncertainty.

Question 12

Explain personal uncertainty

Answer 12

Personal uncertainty happens when a person is put into a situation that he/she does not know if he/she is in danger because each man’s desire and hatred guide his action and therefore each man will decide when he is in danger

Question 13

It is the sum of personal uncertainty A + personal uncertainty B

Answer 13

Collective Uncertainty

Question 14

It is the right that is given to you when one feels personal uncertainty

Answer 14

The right to strike first

Question 15

Explain why in a war against all why there is no clear winner

Answer 15

In a war against all, there is no clear winner because man in the state of nature are natural equals.

Question 16

Explain what happens to men in a state of war

Answer 16

In a state of war, everyone is pre-occupied with war and therefore no civilization can be formed and therefore life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short

Question 17

It is the solution to get out of the state of war

Answer 17

The solution of a state of war is to enter into a social contract where the people can establish a society and a state

Question 18

It is what Hobbes’s believes the only requirement to enter into a contract with a society

Answer 18

an agreement among individuals to live together

Question 19

It is what Hobbes’s believes the only way for a state to be established

Answer 19

The only way for a state to be established is through a leviathan

Question 20

Identify what the central argument is in a Leviathan

Answer 20

Everyone, without exemption, must surrender their natural rights in case of uncertainty and one agrees to do so if everyone also agrees to do so.

Question 21

Identify what the power of the Leviathan is

Answer 21

Absolute

Question 22

Identify what are the two meanings of absolute power in a leviathan

Answer 22

1. Everyone, without exemption, must equally submit to the power of the Leviathan
2. The Leviathan has jurisdiction in all areas where there is no agreement.

Question 23

It is the kind of pain and pleasure where there is no agreement between men

Answer 23

moral pain and pleasure

Question 24

Identify and explain the 2 reasons why everyone without exemptions must equally submit to the power of the leviathan

Answer 24

1) to maintain natural equality among men. There must be no exemptions because if there are exemptions then there is longer no natural equality and therefore everyone must be subdued.
2) to avoid having alternative power centers. This is to prevent a divided loyalty between the state and the church and to ensure that allegiance must only be to the state.

Question 25

Explain why the leviathan has jurisdiction in all areas where there is no agreement

Answer 25

In a situation where there is no agreement between men it is because this involves morality, what men feel and think as good and evil depends on their body processes.

Question 26

Identify the role of the Leviathan

Answer 26

It is to remedy the absence of natural moral agreement among men in the state of nature by imposing artificial moral agreement through the laws which creates objective measure of good and evil

Question 27

Identify the basis of morality in a state of nature

Answer 27

Subjective. This means that the individual who is the measure of good and evil.

Question 28

Identify the basis of morality in a social contract

Answer 28

Objective. It is the laws which become the objective measure of good and evil

Question 29

It is the rights given up when an individual enters into a social contract

Answer 29

natural rights to self-defense in cases of uncertainty

Question 30

Identify the rights retained when an individual enters into a social contract

Answer 30

natural rights to self defense in cases of certainty

Question 31

Identify what concerns does the Leviathan has absolute power on

Answer 31

Leviathan has absolute power over moral concerns

Question 32

Identify and explain where the Leviathan derives its power on

Answer 32

Leviathan's absolute power derives its legitimacy on whether it can effectively protect those free and equal individuals who have consented to obey it.

Question 32

Identify to what extend does the Leviathan has absolute power on liberal ends

Answer 32

The leviathan has absolute power on liberal ends when if can effectively protect those free and equal individuals who have consented to obey it.

Question 33

Identify and explain what kind of relationship between man and state is according to Hobbes?

Answer 33

The relationship between man is negative. It is negative because 1) the state is there to remedy the destructive nature of man and 2) the state guarantees the negative rights of the individual

Question 34

Explain what it means when the state guarantees the negative rights of the individual.

Answer 34

The state guarantees the negative rights of the individual because it punishes those who inflicted pain on others which therefore protects your right not to be hurt by someone else.

Question 35

Identify and explain what kind of relationship between man and society is according to Hobbes?

Answer 35

The relationship between man and society is negative because the creation of a society restricts individual movement because this time one has to live with others.

Question 36

Identify the reason as to why even though the society restricts movement, it is also beneficial to join

Answer 36

The reason as to why it is beneficial to join the society even though it restricts movement is that it safeguards one's interests.

Question 37

Explain the anti-two sword theory

Answer 37

The anti-two sword theory is a theory that rejects the two-sword theory which discusses that the there are two swords. One is spiritual and one is temporal. Both swords are possessed by the Church but has granted the temporal sword to the State. As such, the State is under the Church. The anti-two sword theory therefore rejects this premise and instead believes that the state should hold both swords.