Who is Thomas Hobbes?

Thomas Hobbes philosophized about the Nature of Man in the State of Nature. Hobbes believes that man in the State of Nature, in which there is no sovereign, would live like the beasts of the wild. Hobbes claims that the State of Nature is a State of War, where every man is in competition to survive with every man. There are no laws in the State of Nature, because there is no sovereign to enforce the laws. Therefore every man can do whatever is necessary to survive, regardless of the consequences (Hobbes 186). Hobbes argues that any government is better than the State of Nature or State of War.

The sovereign (government) according to Hobbes is the glue that holds society together. The sovereign enacts and enforces laws. The sovereign is the power that all men fear if they break the law. The sovereign has the right to execute its citizens if they are found guilty, but the citizen has no obligation to assist in his own execution or death (Hobbes 199). It is against the Law of Nature not to resist death. Hobbes states: “For though a man may covenant thus, Unlesse I do so, or so, kill me; he cannot covenant thus, Unlesse I do so, or so, I will not resist you, when you come to kill me” (Hobbes 199).

Regardless of the government or law Hobbes believes “no man can transferre his Right to save himselfe from Death, Wounds, and Imprisonment” (Hobbes 199).

Hobbes claims that in most cases a citizen does not have the duty to make the safety and ends of the state the motive of his or her voluntary death. The right of a man to defend himself in the face of death or injury can not be taken away, because if it is the Right of Nature for each man “to use his own power, as he will himselfe, for the preservation of his own Nature, that is to say his own life” (Hobbes 189). The prisoner being led to death by his jailers has the right and obligation to resist with whatever force is necessary. No man can take away the Right, Law and Libery of Nature because these are the sole reasons for making laws and setting up a sovereign: to preserve and protect the lives of its citizenry. A death sentence makes the covenant between the man being put to death and his fellow citizens void, because no man can will his own death.

No man has the obligation to put his life on the line unless to do so would cause the downfall of the sovereign. Hobbes states that “when the defence of the commonwealth, requireth at once the help of all that are able to bear arms, every one is obliged; because otherwise the institution of the commonwealth, which they have not the purpose, or courage to preserve, was in vain” (270). The only reason to set up a commonwealth is to exit of the State of Nature or State of War and enter the State of Man or State of Law. Since, however, there is no authority or power to enforce a covenant between commonwealths, all commonwealths are in a State of War with each other, and it is the obligation of every man in a commonwealth to defend against the enemy in time of need. If the citizens in a commonwealth refuse to defend the commonwealth, the covenant between the citizens is void and the commonwealth reverts back to the State of Nature in which every man is at war with every man. Logically, the rational man would choose to defend the commonwealth since not to do so would be to put their self preservation at risk. The first Law of Nature states “That every man, ought to endeavor Peace, as far as he has hope in obtaining it; and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek, and use, all helps, and advantages of Warre” (190). Man in seeking peace makes a covenant with his fellow man to set up a sovereign. There can be no covenants between sovereigns, because there is no power to enforce a covenant. Therefore all sovereigns are in a state of war with each other. If a citizen wishes peace he must defend the commonwealth “otherwise the institution of the commonwealth, which they have not the purpose to preserve was in vain” (270), and we are all in the State of War.