Thomas Hobbes is a British philosopher who is remembered for his illustration of the transition from barbaric to contemporary thinking in Great Britain. He is one of the philosophers who developed philosophical vocabulary in the English language, forming technical terms used by ancient Greek and Latin writers. Through carefully chosen words, Hobbes was able to express common ideas clearly (Spragens 13). Imagining a society in a state of nature, a society with no rules or code governing how we live, it seems almost impossible to coexist in such an environment.
Social Contract and Self-Preservation
Hobbes wrote several philosophical works on the social contract accounting for human psychology. He noted that self-preservation, or rather protection, is something that can be rationally sought by the community through an agreement. He came up with strategies for how our societies can be structured for our own benefit. The Golden Rule was very significant to his assurance of logical philosophical argument. His argument was that he could not merely ordain a philosophy or state a principle conventional to many but would provide reasoning supporting his principle (Fish 153). With the conclusion that it is rational for people to surrender some liberty and responsibilities for the security of self-preservation, he came up with a conception of forms of both social and political structure consistent with these aims.
Natural Liberty and Mutual Rights
He described the social contract as a case where one surrenders some liberty in exchange for common security, that is, the mutual transfer of rights. Naturally, everyone has the right to do anything at any time without limits, and this is a state called natural liberty. He, therefore, states that social structure is all about the contracts we make socially in the form of an agreement to mutually transfer our natural rights. By saying this, his argument was that I decide to give up the natural right to steal your food since you also do the same for me. In that case, a natural right is created in society whereby my right to property is limited (Höffe 8). Hobbes states that we make these agreements overtly since we are raised in societies with conventional laws already in place to guide us. He states that in most cases, we entitle certain bodies like the government to help us enforce these laws in society. He believes that the leaders in place are chosen by God and that no one should challenge them as they exercise their roles.
Modern Institutions and Constitutional Sovereignty
Hobbes’s ideas and philosophies apply to our modern-day society in very different ways. According to him, for peace to prevail in society, we have to engage in mutual contracts within our societies by giving someone the power to make decisions that are neutral to all of us. His ideas have been applied in very diverse sectors of our current world. Governments guide most countries, with people surrendering some of their sovereign rights so that the whole population can be free. Despite the fact that this agreement limits one’s freedom, it creates a common environment where everyone in society can fit in. It also creates an organized state where peace and stability remain the major gains to the community. Major economies of the world, like the United States, have applied Hobbes’s ideas in many sectors. For instance, citizens of the United States are by no means autocrats (Höffe 5). That, however, does not mean the country is in a state of anarchy. Such a situation would only be possible if the country were under a dictator or king, but in this case, the country is guided by the constitution, upon which the sovereign power of the people rests. This means that real sovereign power lies with the people themselves since the citizens form the constitution. Hobbes has stood out as one of the most critical philosophers whose ideas are seen working in a range of social organizations, including schools, churches, and nations.
Leviathan and Sovereign Power
Thomas Hobbes is one of the figures whose philosophies have shaped the political arena to date. He is one of the most outstanding political philosophers, and his masterpiece Leviathan remains substantial among political writings related to Plato and Aristotle. Hobbes believed that when human beings are left in their state of nature, a state of continuous warfare would exist throughout the world. He believed that in a state of nature, life would be solitary, nasty, brutal, and short. He therefore came up with the idea of forming a government with sovereign power over everyone (Martinich 77). I support Hobbes’s idea even though his most preferred form of government is absolute monarchy. This idea, when clearly analyzed, gives us the democratic governments we have today. I, therefore, feel it is right to say that Hobbes’s idea was pessimistic enough, considering the fact that during the time he did his philosophical work, he used the existing form of government, which was a monarchy. His social contract made him ascribe all power to the governor, whom he felt should possess all powers. Expanding this idea to the modern world, sovereign power lies with the constitution, which should never be rebelled against by anyone under its rule.
Hobbes’s Philosophical Legacy
In summary, Thomas Hobbes is one of the figures who shaped the world in the field of philosophy. He was very brilliant, and references to his philosophical work still remain embedded in the laws guiding various parts of the world. Social contract theory is very important for the welfare of the societies in which we live. The ideas he had in mind have been applied in schools, governments, and institutions, and they have helped keep those areas in peaceful coexistence.
Work Cited
Spragens Jr, Thomas A. The politics of motion: the world of Thomas Hobbes. University Press of Kentucky, 2015. Pp 12-17.
Fish, Stanley. “Thomas Hobbes: The Father of Law and Literature.” Law & Literature 29.1 (2017): Pp 151-156.
Höffe, Otfried. Thomas Hobbes. SUNY Press, 2015. Pp 7-9.
Höffe, Otfried. “Thomas Hobbes: De Cive.” (2018). Pp 3-5.
Martinich, A. P. “Leo Strauss’s Olympian Interpretation: Right, Self-preservation, and Law in The Political Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes.” Reading between the lines–Leo Strauss and the History of Early Modern Philosophy 3 (2015): Pp 77.
Academic Master Education Team is a group of academic editors and subject specialists responsible for producing structured, research-backed essays across multiple disciplines. Each article is developed following Academic Master’s Editorial Policy and supported by credible academic references. The team ensures clarity, citation accuracy, and adherence to ethical academic writing standards
Content reviewed under Academic Master Editorial Policy.
