Soc Sci 2 Flashcards
(39 cards)
Who was abandoned by his father at an early age; was brough up by his uncle
Thomas Hobbes
He studied at the University of Oxford at 15 years old
Thomas Hobbes
He experienced the turbulent half of the seventeenth century in England (conflict between royalists and Parliamentarians )
Thomas Hobbes
He sought refuge in France because of his association with royalist circles (he was the tutor to Charles II of Wales) and his antiparliamentarian writings
Thomas Hobbes
He was a defender of an absolute government
Thomas Hobbes
He wrote the Leviathan (1651) before he returned to England
Thomas Hobbes
Highlights Thomas Hobbes’ anti-parliamentarian, pro-royalist views
Leviathan (1651)
This work has often been interpreted as a defense for a despotic and absolutist regime
Leviathan (1651)
Referred as ”the first general theory of politics in the English language” (Ebenstein and Ebenstein, 1990),
Leviathan (1651)
A reflection of Hobbes’ political theory, which rests on a theory of human nature
Leviathan (1651)
What are the four theories of human nature?
- Man are equal
- Man is unsociable
- Man is selfish
- Man is rational
What are the three definitions of man that are equal?
in the faculties of mind and body;
in the hope of achieving goals (same desires);
in the exercise of man’s natural right to self-preservation
Man is not naturally sociable because if he were, then societies would evolve naturally. Societies are created through conscious decisions among men.
Man is unsociable
For the preservation of their lives and the protection of their self-interests
Man is selfish
Reason is possessed by men in general, even when they are in a state of nature
Man is rational
It refers to the condition of men prior to the creation of societies
State of nature
For Hobbes, it is a condition of war of all against all (competition, diffidence, and glory)
State of nature
Two cardinal virtues
fraud and force
There is no central authority; the only recourse is _________
self-help
_________ are predisposed to war; they treat each other as enemies
Men
The situation is dominated by ________
fear and danger
The social contract is _____________ that would somehow lessen the insecurity of man in the state of nature
the creation of a political association
It is an ___________________ among men that they will transfer their natural rights (except for the right to one’s own body) to a sovereign entity (the “Leviathan”)
agreement/contract/covenant
Entering the social contract results into the creation of a __________ which was previously absent in the state of nature
central authority