"......the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short" Thomas Hobbes on life in the state of nature

Popular Works:

• The Citizen
• On Matter
• On Man
• Leviathan

Born 1588, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England. Hobbes was the younger son of a country cleric. He liked to claim that his mother went into labor on hearing of the approaching Spanish Armada, so that, as he puts it, 'fear and I were born twins together'.

A wealthy uncle paid for his schooling and Hobbes did well. After completing his formal education at Oxford, Hobbes was employed by the wealthy and well-connected Cavendish family as a tutor for the young William Cavendish. The tutoring involved Hobbes traveling extensively around Europe with William, and his journeys provided him with an opportunity to meet some of Europe's greatest thinkers, including Rene Descartes.

Hobbe's ideas were racical. As a consequence, he lived in constant fear of persecution, and not without reason. While in France, he got into trouble for having anti-Catholic views. When he returned to England he was suspected of producing atheist writings and was investigated. This led him to burn some of his own work. Yet, despite his radical and, to many, unacceptable views.

Died, 1679, in Hardwick, Derbyshire.

How might our conditions be improved?

Suppose each individual enters into a 'contract' with all the rest to submit to an over-arching sovereign power. Each individual gives up some of their own natural freedom in return for protection against savagery and chaos of the state of nature that this sovereign power will provide. Such a 'social contract' would both legitimize the power of this state and work to the benefit of all.

However, in order to be effective in keeping chaos at bay, the sovereign state to which individuals hand over some of their freedom must be immensely powerful. If that state is to succeed, it must be able to command to loyal obedience of every citizen. It must be capable of striking fear into the heart of anyone tempted to step out of line.

Belonging to such a powerful state brings huge benefits in addition to safety and security. Since they can be sure that, when they enter into contracts, those contracts will be kept (because the state will ensure that those who fail to honor their agreements are punished), individuals can now begin to trade with one another. The arts and sciences can also start to flourish. Rather than being forced to battle constantly for survival, individuals now have the option of developing their intellectual and artistic skills.

So under a powerful state, life is immeasurably better than that it is in the state of nature. Yes, there is a price to pay in terms of individual freedom, but Hobbes believes that this loss of freedom is a price worth paying.

Social contract theories such as that of Hobbes typically face a number of standard objections. Perhaps the most obvious worry Hobbes's theory raises is that no such social contract actually exists. There was never a time, as far as I can tell, when the citizens of Great Britain or any other country signed up to such a deal. Nor are new citizens expected to sign such a contract on becoming adults. But if no such agreement was ever brokered--if Hobbes's 'contract' is entirely made up--then surely so is the legitimacy of the state.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this. As nobody want to return to the horror of the state of nature, we remain voluntarily within the sovereign state. But then can't we be seen as at least having implicity entered into such a deal, whether or not any such contract is ever explicitly made? Our consent is at least tacitly, if not explicitly given.

Hobbes is also often accused of having too pessimistic a view of human nature. Some say, 'Doesn't Hobbes take for granted that we are cruel people?' Isn't that his explanation for the barbarism of the state of nature? If we are more warm and compassionate than Hobbes assumes, might not the state of nature turn out to be rather less lawful? In fact, might it not turn out ot rather idyllic?

This criticism of Hobbes is based partly on a misunderstanding. Hobbes doesn't think human being are gratuitously cruel. What he said is, "that any man should take pleasure in other men's great harms, without end of his own, I do not conceive it possible.' The reason the state of nature is barbarous, according to Hobbes, is not that humans enjoy wishing pain and death on others--they don't. The reason, rather, is that the situation in which each individual finds him or herself--a situation in which everyone desires what is scarce, and no one is immune to attack--gives each individual a powerful incentive to attack others, not just in order to get what they desire, but to avoid being attacked themselves.