Lecture 2 Flashcards
What is the State of Nature?
The state of nature is one not ruled by political institutions
According to Hobbes, what is the state of nature? (Quotes on describing the scenery)
According to Hobbes, the state of nature is a state of war of all against all
In the state of nature, the life of man is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short
The civil state is justified because it allows us to escape from the state of nature.
What explains Hobbes’s pessimistic outlook?
Hobbes view on human nature
Hobbes on Human nature
For Hobbes, as for Hume, our actions are determined by the passions.
Hobbes distinguishes between “appetites” or “desires” and “fears” or “aversions”
Examples of Passions: benevolence, ambition, revengefulness, fear of god, superstitious fear
What is the main passion Hobbes emphasises?
self preservation
He is not saying that this the main passion we have
But he takes the desire for self-preservation to be at the root of the difficulty we encounter in the state of nature as well as the basis for a justification of the civil state.
Why can reason support the passions?
Requirements of rationality captured in laws of nature
They describe causal connections between cooperation forms of behaviour and self preservation
What is the Law of Nature?
(lex naturalis) is 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
First fundamental law of nature
- (conditional) desire for peace
- It is a precept, or general rule, of reason that every man ought to endeavour peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it, and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek and use all helps and advantages of war.
Second fundamental law of nature?
-Conditional (willingness to cooperate to avoid state nature by creating political institutions.
That a man be willing, when others are so too,… to lay down his right to all things, and be contented with so much liberty against other men, as he would allow other men against himself
What can rational show us?
Rationality can show us that cooperation is desirable as a means to self-preservation
- They bind us “in foro interno”
- They bind to a desire they [the laws of nature] should take place
What can rationally, inevitably, not secure?
They do not bind us “in for externo”
In the State of Nature, acting on those laws makes one even more vulnerable to others
What are the conditions in the state of Nature?
- Equality in physical and mental ability
-we are equal enough in bodily strength to represent a threat to one another
-and we are equal enough in mental ability to distrust each other’s judgement
-Moderate scarcity of resources
Together with equality, this leads to competition and conflict
What is the nature of the conflict in the state of nature?
How do the passions and rationality interact in the state of nature to produce a state of war?
- Rationality interpretation
- Passion interpretation
- Short-sightedness interpretation
Rationality interpretation?
- The state of nature is the result of our rationality
- in the absence of a civil state, non co-operation is rational to secure self-preservation
- competition leads to fear and diffidence
- undermines our confidence in being able to secure self-preservation
- and this leads to pre-emptive invasions as means to protect security
PD
Passion Interpretation?
- The state of nature is the result of our passions
- Humans beings have, in addition to the desire for self-preservation, desires for praise, glory, respect from others
-These passions bring us into conflict with each other and undermine out ability to secure self-preservation
Rationality shows us the way out
Assurance game
