As a 17th century philosopher, Thomas Hobbes was best remembered for his work Leviathan. Hobbes had a large impact on the political views of society. He held the view that humans were able to thrive in harmony whilst avoiding fear of social conflict. Coming off of this idea of harmony and avoiding social conflict, Hobbes coined and established the social contract theory. This theory has been laid as the bedrock for most Western political philosophy. The social contract is a construct in which persons unite into political societies and agree to abide by a set of common rules and accept consequential duties to protect themselves and each other from whatever may come. In his famous work, Leviathan, Hobbes writes to argue for the necessity and …show more content…
Hobbes approaches with a more pessimistic outlook. He challenges his readers to look at experience and then state whether they feel he is wrong in his pessimistic view of human nature. Hobbes describes human nature as “a precept, or general rule, found out by reason, by which a man is forbidden to do that which is destructive of his life, or taketh away the means of preserving the same, and to omit that by which he thinketh it may be best preserved.” When people argue against this thought, he provides them with plenty of examples. He brings up ideas such as locking your door and carrying a weapon when you travel, does that not show distrust for human nature? That being said, Hobbes does not believe that there is anything wrong with the things that lead humans to war with another. On the contrary, Hobbes goes on to say that in a state of nature where there is no common power, "nothing can be unjust. The notions of Right and Wrong, Justice and Injustice have there no place. Where there is no common Power, there is no Law; where no Law, no injustice." As Hobbes before stated, what drives us toward peace is the general fear of death. The standings of peace that men come into settlement upon are those dictated to us by reasons known as the Laws of Nature. There are two fundamental laws of nature. The first; man should “seek peace and follow it.” The second; we should lay down this absolute right of nature "and be contented with so much liberty against other men, as he would allow other men against himself." This leads Hobbes into his chapter, which covers more types of natural