Abstract
In this essay, an attempt is made to extrapolate from Hobbes’ political theory, his views on morality, as espoused in his seminal work, Leviathan.1 Hobbes’ goal in Leviathan was not primarily to evolve a moral theory, but because the socio-political situation that precipitated his theorizing was beginning to defile all known rules of morality, it becomes imperative to examine the place of morality in his philosophical construct. Besides, the book Leviathan also detailed Hobbes’ physicalist outlook, which greatly influenced his interpretation of human actions on the basis of materialism. Hobbes’ concern and enthusiasm for science underscore his belief that everything that happens can be accounted for by the law of motion. For him, “knowing” and “willing” are merely the appearances of subtle motions and they underlie our desires and aversions, which ultimately define our concept of good and evil. Morality is thus not hinged on some reality beyond the reach and control of men, as was often held by his predecessors — particularly before Descartes. Rather it is a product of human social dwelling, a creation of social actors.
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Notes
T. Hobbes (1968), Leviathan, C.B. Macpherson (England: Penguin Books, 1968).
M. Forsyth (1992), “Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan” in M. Forsyth & M. Keens-Soper (eds), The political classics: a guide to the essential texts from Plato to Rousseau (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p. 131.
M. Forsyth (1992), “Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan,” pp. 133–134.
F. Copleston (1985), A history of philosophy, Book Two Vols. IV, V and VI (New York: Image Books, 1985), p. 32.
T. Hobbes (1968), Leviathan, p. 186.
D. Gauthier (1999), “Hobbes” in R.L. Arington (ed.), A companion to the philosophers (Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 1999), p. 307.
T. Hobbes (1968), Leviathan, pp. 216–217.
M.M. Goldsmith (1993), “Hobbes: ancient and modern” in T. Sorell (ed.), The rise of modern philosophy: the tension between the new and traditional philosophies from Machiavelli to Leibniz (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 325.
T. Hobbes (1968), Leviathan, p. 192.
A.G.N. Flew (1964), “Hobbes” in J.D. O’Connor (ed.), A critical history of Western philosophy (New York: The Free Press, 1964), p. 166.
B. Russell (1948), History of Western philosophy (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1948), p. 579.
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Offor, F. (2015). From Chaos to Order: The Role of the Self in Hobbes’ Moralism. In: Imafidon, E. (eds) The Ethics of Subjectivity. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137472427_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137472427_2
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