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Thomas Hobbes During The English Revolution

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The English revolution was a time of great civil and political unrest, caused by a divide between the Parliament and King Charles I in 1628 (Petrovic 8) which profoundly influenced many philosophers’ political view during the English Enlightenment among whom was Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes, a political philosopher and royalist, composed one of his most influential works Leviathan in response to the political turmoil he experienced during the English Civil Wars (Petrovic 9). After members of the parliament opposed King Charles I who believed in his divine right to absolute power causing a civil war broke out between the two oppositions, Hobbes fled to France in 1640 for fear of his life as a royalist and supporter of the King (Petrovic 8). Eventually, …show more content…

However, this law could pose a problem because if only a few will consent to give up their right they would essentially put themselves in danger (35). It would also conflict with the first law of nature in which everyone has a right to defend himself. Therefore, to truly achieve peace and stability humans should enter a mutual agreement through a social contract. Hobbes argues that such an agreement is necessary in order to get humans “...out from that miserable condition of war” (p. 36). However, because it is likely that humans in their natural state of self-interest won’t follow their agreements, Hobbes believes that “agreements without the sword are but words, and of no strength to secure man at all” (36). Therefore, he suggests that everyone consents to give up their rights to an absolute authority for his/her own good whether it is one person or body of persons (38). Hobbes also proposes that humans enter a covenant with the authority and submit to a power as if they are “all in one and the same person” which is his ideal “commonwealth” (39). This is the conclusion from which Hobbes derives the title of his work Leviathan, a biblical figure who is “the monster that ruled over chaos at the beginning of the world” (Petrovic 12). To Hobbes, the most effective power to preserve harmony in the commonwealth would be a monarch (39) who would be most successful in fulfilling his duties namely protecting the commonwealth and enforcing good laws as well as “public instruction, both of doctrine and example” (39-40). In Hobbes opinion, it would be devastating, essentially the “greatest evil”, if the rights of the sovereign were violated as this would have people fall back to the state of nature which everyone would want to avoid (40). It is not surprising that Hobbes draws this conclusion given that he experienced the

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