Thomas Hobbes: Biography
- Thomas Hobbes was born at Westport, now known as Wiltshire, England in 1588.
- Received his college education at Oxford University in England, where he studied classics.
- After becoming a companion to William Cavendish II, an English courtier and politician, it was then that Hobbes was exposed to European scientific and critical methods.
- Although he associated with literary figures like Ben Jonson and philosophers such as Francis Bacon, he did not extend his efforts into philosophy until after 1629.
- Over the next seven years he expanded his own knowledge of philosophy, awakening in him curiosity over key philosophic debates.
- He visited Florence in 1636 and later was a regular debater in philosophic groups in Paris.
- After returning to England he wrote Elements of law Natural and Politic, which outlined his new theory.
- The first thirteen chapters of this work was published in 1650 under the title Human Nature, and the rest of the work as a separate volume entitled De Corpore Politico.
- During his time outside of England, Hobbes had a sudden spark of interest in leadership and government.
- In 1651, Hobbes wrote his most famous work, entitled Leviathan.
- In it, he argued that people were naturally wicked and could not be trusted to govern.
- Therefore, Hobbes believed that an absolute monarchy - a government that gave all power to a king or queen - was best.
- To Hobbes, each country was in a constant battle for power and wealth.
"If men are naturally in a state of war, why do they always carry arms and why do they have keys to lock their doors?" - Hobbes
- He cites three natural reasons that humans fight: competition over material good, general distrust, and the glory of powerful positions.
- Hobbes comes to the conclusion that humanity's natural condition is a state of perpetual war, constant fear, and lack of morality.
- In 1655 Hobbes published De Corpore, the first part of his philosophical system.
- Looks at the logical, mathematical and physical principles that create the foundation of his philosophy.
- By the time of Leviathan and De Corpore, Hobbes was convinced that human beings (including their minds) were entirely material.
- Later on came to think that even God was a sort of material being.
- Hobbes' story about the workings of mind and language (e.g., in the early chapters of Leviathan) is supposed to be an implicit argument for materialism.
- In 1667 Leviathan was mentioned in a bill passed in the Commons against blasphemous literature.
- He was forbidden to publish on the topic of religion.
- Many of his works were kept from publication, however a Latin translation of Leviathan was published in Amsterdam in 1668.
- Hobbes suffered a bladder disorder, which was followed by a paralytic stroke from which he died on 4 December 1679.