Political Philosophy (Hobbes' ideas about human nature) - Essay Example

Both these influences seem to have greater influence over the way Hobbes political thoughts developed over the period of time. His thoughts on political philosophy were therefore strongly oriented towards separating religion from the politics and state. Hobbes strongly advocated the minimal role of religious orthodoxy into the affairs of the government and resultantly he suggests that it is the sovereign which should have an authority over the religion. What is critical to note that Hobbes suggested that a person’s duties to God must not override his duties to the sovereign?

This therefore makes his overall political philosophy different from earlier thoughts on the relationship between religion and the politics. This paper will discuss the philosophy of Hobbes and will make a comparison and contrast between his philosophy and that of Locke. Hobbes on Human Nature One of the most important difficulties while one reads about Hobbes’s thoughts on the human nature is the fact that his ideas on human nature cannot be easily separated from his overall political philosophy. . Hobbes therefore strongly believed that Man is not the social animal because a society cannot exist without the establishment of a government.

This orientation of the Hobbes towards the nature of the man therefore suggests that man will be at war with each other perpetually. Such tendency of the man therefore can only be controlled if there is a strong sovereign with absolute powers to control such instinctive nature of man. It is because of this reason that Hobbes believes that absolute monarchy may be the right kind of political system to control such institutive nature of man. To better understand the political philosophy of Hobbes and his ideas on human nature, it is also important to understand his concept of the state of the nature.

The state of nature is used as a hypothetical condition which preceded the government. Hobbes increasingly views human nature from the perspective of the state of the nature because he believe that the human nature in the state of nature is quite poor, brutish, solitary as well as short. He therefore argues that the man essentially is a selfish individual and in the absence of any government, his selfishness can prevent the establishment of a social or society. He therefore argues that in order to accommodate the individual rights within a society, it is important for individuals to cede some of their rights and others will also follow the same.

That is how the society is created out of the essential human nature. (Martinich) He also went on to argue that a man cannot, by his nature, find god or evil and therefore in order to live in peace, it is important for him to subjugate him to an authority of the government which is strong enough to provide the required support to an individual. Another