Essay Sample on Thomas Hobbes Political Ideas

Introduction

Thomas Hobbes ideas connect to modern politics by creating a benchmark. John Locke built upon Hobbes ideas to create philosophies that would be embraced by most of the countries in the western world. Hobbes defines human nature as one that is violentin nature. It is essential for its conclusions because it determines whether humans can be trusted with power or not. One of the weaknesses in his philosophies is that it grants too much power to one person who is also human and susceptible to human nature.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Hobbes believes that humans have only one right. The right to life. Moreover, human nature was a direct threat to our liberty. It is our life. It is vital for his conclusions because they form the only boundary that the monarch is not allowed to cross. The primary weakness with his line of thought is that the sovereign has the power to make any reason a good reason to take away the life of its citizens.

According to Hobbes the purpose of government. It is about establishing a "social contract," to transfer the rights that man naturally has over all things in favor of a sovereign endowed with unlimited powers.

Hobbes believes that absolute monarchy is the ideal form of government. A government whose sovereignty does not reside in the divine right but the transferred rights. Such government would be the only one capable of enforcing the social contract and guaranteeing order and peace. The main weakness in Hobbes form of government is that it doesn't assure that the absolute monarch will act unselfishly. Since humans are selfish by nature, the ruler will also act selfishly by nature.

Hobbes ideas connect with those of Locke through their shared belief in life as a human right. As a result, Hobbes ideas on modern government held that democracy is no more than an aristocracy of orators, interrupted at times by the temporary monarchy of a speaker.

Hobbes considers that the foundation of the modern state is not found in the division of powers, but is based on guaranteeing that the aims of the social contract are fulfilled, through the function of the State over the individual, that is in maintaining peace, ensure life and individual liberties.

Hobbes thoughts about executive power are that those who are in charge of the government take care not to approve what they directly prohibit indirectly. They say that 'made the law, made the trap' and numerous are the cases in which someone has managed to take advantage of the law to their benefit. Hobbes says that the war is derived from the idea of power that men have, to think themselves superior in comparison with others. That means that the concept of superiority is the origin of war and can best be understood from the idea of vanity. Vanity or the desire for superiority over others is the beginning of the battle of all against all.

Trump is an example of a president that follows Hobbes philosophies. Mr. Trump wrote, "I also have a nuclear button, bigger and more powerful."

Since the end of the war the US has maintained between 25,000 and more than 40,000 troops in South Korea very close to the North Korean peninsula, these soldiers are still a reminder. One is that "we can crush North Korea" and the other is "South Korea belongs to us." Pyongyang sees it this way. Although this shift contains economic and commercial aspects, its primary purpose is to increase the already considerable military power in the region to intensify its threat to China and North Korea.

Trump also said, "This is America. Speak English."According to the data of the 2016 census, the Hispanic population in the United States is 60 million people; Trump considers that he must defend English as the language of his country, which was interpreted as a sign of xenophobia.

Also, the political philosophy of Hobbes is based on the concepts of natural anarchy and war of all against all. Inherent chaos is linked to the naturalistic conception of human appetite that Hobbes mentions, in them one can trace how man always wants power and for it becomes the enemy of the other men whom he attacks with the pretense of overcoming them. However, having a monarch, who has transferred rights, he would be the only one capable of enforcing the social contract and thus guarantee order and peace, exerting a monopoly on violence. These ideas are still in us through absolute monarchs such as Saudi Arabia and North Korea.

Hobbes left a legacy. The Human is a wolf for the human. The natural state of the human is the continuous struggle against his neighbor. It means the wild animal that the human carries inside is capable of making great atrocities against elements of its species. Some of these actions are to direct wars, exterminate a social group, carry out attacks, killings, and kidnappings, subject other individuals to slavery, illegal trafficking of people, etc. However, for the preservation of humanity Thomas Hobbes indicates that peace and social union can be achieved when they are established in a social contract with a centralized power that has the absolute authority to protect society, creating a civilized community.