Talk:Thomas Hobbes

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Contents

[edit] 1911 article

The bits from the 1911 article article are only partly edited. Parts of it didn't really survive the OCR process in any meaningful form. And it might even be too detailed (although in that case, maybe it should be condensed and the full article should be moved onto a subpage.)

I'll be diving back into it soon to do some editing, when I have more time. But I'm never in favor of removing potentially useful information from an article just because it's a little messy right now. Dachshund

[edit] Hobbes's views disputed

Hobbes's views are much disputed, and Richard Tuck, although influential, is also much criticized. It would be nice if this entry could give a more balanced view of Hobbes's philosophy. In particular, if it could incorporate criticism of the traditional interpretation, works other that Leviathan, etc.

[edit] Hobbes's health

In October 1679 a bladder disorder was followed by a paralytic stroke, under which he died, in his ninety-second year. He was buried in the churchyard of Ault Hucknall.

It seems that at least up until 1679, Hobbes's life was not terribly nasty or brutish, nor was it at all short. --Sewing 23:50, 11 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Hobbes lived under a monarchical government, which he defended for the very reason that he believed it altered the natural condition of man in such a way that his life would no longer be nasty, brutish or short. --Adam Acosta, 20 March 2005

[edit] Hobbesian

In the debate on US Neoconservatives, they are often pointed out as "Hobbesian". Maybe this would merit to be mentioned?

A dictionary definition once existed as the wikipedia article on Hobbesian:

The belief that violence is the state of nature, and therefore incurable. Life is a fight of all against all, resulting in a world with, quoting Hobbes: "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Synonyms: barbaric, brutal, ferocious, heartless, monstrous, primitive, rough, rude, ruthless, uncivilised, wild, fierce, hellish, revengeful, unfeeling, unkind, vicious, virulent, wicked, hostile.

--Ruhrjung 21:27, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Hobbes did use the term 'state of nature', although very rarely, and never in his main works Leviathan or Behemoth. Eg see Rudiments chapter 1, section 4.

[edit] Founder of political liberalism

Is it really accurate to say "Hobbes is the founder of political liberalism"? According to whom? Isn't it more common to say that Locke was the founder? POV notice: I more or less like political liberalism, and I can't stand Hobbes. - Nat Krause 07:53, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

(William M. Connolley 08:38, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)) I don't know what political liberalism is, but I doubt Hobbes fits it, just guessing from the name. He strongly believed in the power of the sovereign and approved of censorship where necessary for reasons of state.
It does seem a little unlikely, especially since shortly afterwards the article says that Hobbes opposed the seperation of powers, a key tenent of classical liberalism. I believe Hobbes is in fact the father of political conservativsm.
(William M. Connolley 08:31, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)) I doubt Hobbes can truley be considered the father of any current movement. He is far too uncompromising for anyone's tastes nowadays (or then, come to it).

Hobbes was one of the first to introduce the concept of the social contract, and for that alone he could be considered a father of modern liberalism. Bigger brains than mine (John Gray, for instance) make this point and others. It is, to this autodidact, a perfectly reasonable position to take.

Hobbes' philosophy sounds more like libertarianism than liberalism to me, particularly with respect to the supremacy of the free market.

(William M. Connolley 22:09, 30 Oct 2004 (UTC)) Probably not. Libertarians would probably forbid the government to break contracts, either between individuals or between individuals and the govt. Hobbes allows the govt to do anything. Indeed, the supremacy of the central authority is his major argument, which is hardly libertarian, as I understand it.

Hobbes can be seen as the founder of political liberalism because he is the foundered of the political philosophical tradition that see the individual as the basic and central unit of social life. It is from this world view that later thinks, such as Locke, create the tenets of political liberalism that is more recognizable today.

I agree with the earlier comments that it would be more accurate to describe Hobbes as the founder of libertarianism. The social contract requires adherence to laws, and breaches of this result in strong government retaliation. Hobbes does not wish government to intrude on other aspects of everyday life in the state. As even the current entry correctly states, Hobbes believed “so long as one man does no harm to any other, the sovereign should keep its hands off him”. As such, the central authority in Hobbes’ state is only strong when dealing with issues pertaining to the breach of the social contract, and does not interest itself on issues such as the public welfare, as a liberal government would. Ergo, he’s definitely not the founder of liberalism, but there’s a strong case for him being the founder of libertarianism (considering of course that they hadn’t quite mastered the free market when he was around)

(William M. Connolley 20:08, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)) Whether he could be considered the founder I don't know; but I'm pretty sure he is not compatible with current libertarianism. As far as Hobbes is concerned, the Sovereign can do as it likes. It is certainly true that the Sov should obey the law, and even perhaps "so long as one man does no harm to any other, the sovereign should keep its hands off him" (rather unhobbesian langauge). But note the *should*: from Hobbes POV, if the Sov chooses to disregard the should, there is nothing to stop it breaking the law and no recourse.

Those who say that he was the founder of political liberalism argue that it has a Hobbesian basis: the idea was that Locke "corrected" Hobbes on Hobbesian principles, that liberalism better protects those things which Hobbes said were alone worth protecting. Hobbes is called the founder, however, because it was he who argued for those things being the true ends of government, the protection of which was the touchstone of all legitimate authority. Political libertarianism is one strand of political liberalism, and one that I don't think Hobbes would support. As it is a contested matter, I think his being the founder should be mentioned in the article as one interpretation among others. -RJC 06:12, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)

If anyone has a copy of C B Macpherson's "Possessive Individualism" to hand (I don't, sadly), that can be used as a basis for indicating Hobbes as a proto-liberal. Nach0king 12:48, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Calvin and Hobbes

(William M. Connolley 19:46, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC)) There is now a link to calvin+hobbes at the bottom and top of the page. I don't think the one at the top is appropriate. No-one is going to look for C+H under T H. Better to make Hobbes (currently a re direct) into the disambig and delete C+H from this page.

[edit] Tuck on Hobbes... para cut to talk

(William M. Connolley 19:02, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)) I've cut this:

This political philosophy has been analysed by the influential Richard Tuck as a response to the problems that Cartesian doubt introduce for moral philosophy. Hobbes concedes, with the sceptics and with Descartes, that we cannot know anything about the external world for certain from our sense impressions of it. His philosophy is seen as an attempt to base a coherent theory of social formation purely on the fact of the sense impressions themselves, arguing that these sense impressions are enough for man to act to preserve his own life, and building up his entire political philosophy from that single imperative.

here to see if anyone wants to defend it. Firstly, we cannot know anything about the external world for certain from our sense impressions of it is not obvious. Hobbes clearly asserts that we get our ideas from external sense impressions, but doesn't obviously express Cartesian type doubt. Secondly, I can't see how he bases all his theory on this: he explicitly introduces "laws of nature" type things which appear to me to be deductions from the mental sphere.

I don't really feel like defending it, but read Hobbes again, as well as his response to Descartes' Meditations, with this question in mind. You will likely have a different take when you are focused on the issue (I did). I believe Tuck is right. 70.80.196.191 15:00, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vandal edit disappeared...?

Something odd happened, and the edit I reverted, by 17:39 . . 208.35.239.18 has vanished from the edit history as of now. I don't understand.


[edit] Hobbes at Oxford

The article states that Hobbes attended Magdalen Hall in 1603, yet the link states that Magdalen Hall was renamed Magdalen College in 1458. Which one's right?

He is listed as an alumnus of Hertford College. I haven't heard of him being a student of Magdalen...

[edit] Hobbes atheism

Other uses popular immediately Hobbes published carry connotations of atheism and the belief that "might makes right."

This sentence is very convoluted. Can anyone who understands this reword it? Also, wasn't Hobbes an atheist? --Malathion 4 July 2005 09:27 (UTC)

I believe that another version would be: Other uses of the word, which were popular immediately after the publication of Hobbes's work, carry connotations of atheism and of the belief that "might makes right.". Hobbes was not an aetheist (at least, as judged from Leviathan). He frequently uses language that implies/directly states his belief in God. OTOH, his logic forces him to conclusions that might have looked like atheism at the time - that the clergy are subject to the crown; that there is no way to be sure of revelation; that which books of the bible are genuine is a matter for the civil power; etc. William M. Connolley 2005-07-04 10:17:34 (UTC).
There is an ongoing debate over Hobbes' atheism. Some try to make him into a hard-nosed Christian, based primarily on the fact that he calls himself one. From this, they interpret his thought in a way that does not require that he have disdained God. I don't think they have a leg to stand on. His statements on superstition, religion, and true religion are so convoluted, and logically incompatible with a belief in God, that it seems implausible that any believer could have written them. On the other hand, denying that he believed in God means accepting that we can judge what Christianity is and thus whether another has adhered to it. This is very close to judging the validity of another's belief. Some people might be uncomfortable doing this. To say that Hobbes either was or was not is to take some stand concerning what a belief in God entails. --RJC 4 July 2005 14:26 (UTC)
Hobbes statements on religion and true religion don't seem at all convoluted to me: to the contrary, they are succint and precise: to whit: Feare of power invisible, feigned by the mind, or imagined from tales publicly allowed, RELIGION; not allowed, SUPERSTITION. And when the power imagined is truly such as we imagine, TRUE RELIGION. Leviathan, ch VI. Its on my user page... William M. Connolley 2005-07-04 15:24:47 (UTC).
Yes, so one could immediately think that, objectively, there is no difference between "religion" and "superstition," or that religion is just a state supported superstition. This would of course cause quite an uproar, were it not for the addition of "true religion" as a separate category. So the question then becomes, is there a sustainable difference between "religion" and "true religion" on Hobbes' premises, or is the latter added simply to avoid too much of an uproar. Yet the truth of a proposition depends upon the significance of the terms with which it is stated, and this significance is in turn set by the sovereign (sorry, I left my Leviathan in the office, so no citation). A true religion is true because one's sovereign has said it to be, which is to say that true religion, as well, is nothing more than a superstition allowed by the sovereign. This can be even further refined: a true religion is a superstition said to be true by one's own sovereign, religion merely one allowed, and by any sovereign. Given how careful Hobbes is with his definitions, attempting to establish the appearance of a system modeled on the exactitude of geometry; and given that he has already snuck nasty things into his definitions, such that the aristocratic virtues are not so much refuted as defined into psychologically impossibility; it is unlikely that he missed this about religion and true religion. --RJC 4 July 2005 18:50 (UTC)
I agree that the addition of "true religion" was probably a sop to the times. OTOH I disagree with your interp otherwise: as it clearly says: tales publicly allowed, RELIGION - ie, its religion if the sovereign sponsors it. True religion, by contrast, is when its really like that, which is of course outside the sov's power. I don't know what you mean about the aristo stuff, though. Are you talking about "honour"? William M. Connolley 2005-07-04 19:06:40 (UTC).
Yes and no. When pride is just vainglory writ large, and magnanimity just an (inexplicable) contempt for small helps, the Aristotelean gentleman no longer exists as a human type. Regarding truth: as one of the things the sovereign does is to fix what various words signify (this being one of the things contested in the state of nature), and as truth and falsehood are nothing more than attributes of speech, Hobbes really does make the sovereign the arbiter of truth. (I suspect, having noticed your attachment to climatology, that you would find this assertion of sovereign authority to be particularly distasteful.) Hobbes does hold out the possiblity that one can make erroneous suppositions about events to come or events passed, but he is quite clear that this does not involve truth or falsehood. We may want to move this to our talk pages (if you wish to continue it), however, lest Talk:Thomas Hobbes actually be a discussion of Thomas Hobbes, rather than of the article about him. --RJC 4 July 2005 20:31 (UTC)
Hobbes words (see Lev page; king of dark; point 3) don't support your interpretation of "true". Truth appears as an absolute. William M. Connolley 11:14:28, 2005-07-14 (UTC).


[edit] Infobox

Hobbes was an important political philosopher. I personally don't feel qualified to create an infobox on him, but I believe that one is needed. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 129.252.69.254 (talk • contribs).

I've now created the infobox; it does need some work though and help would be appreciated. Mikker ... 20:10, 12 February 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Hobbes & Wing Commander

  1. Hobbes is the name of a major Wing Commander character in at least 3 games and a few novels. In total they have sold millions of copies. The page about this character however is still underdeveloped.
  2. Hobbes redirects to Thomas Hobbes, meaning that people who search the character won't find him. This is a problem.
  3. It's difficult to define something as more important than something else. Personally, I never heard about Calvin and Hobbes (which are referred to) until now. And a character of a fictional universe that is known by millions vs. a comic book character that is known by millions. Seems that both are important. Moreover, who decides what is important? What criteria? This is a big world, with many subcultures and I don't think that Wikipedia should make statements about what is important and what isn't.
  4. Two possible solution: (1) refering to the game character on the Thomas Hobbes page or (2) making Hobbes a dismabig page. Personally I think that the last solution is the best, as there are possibly more meanings for Hobbes. 84.193.3.47 20:29, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
I think that a disambig is probably best William M. Connolley 20:35, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
Well, just off the cuff I'd say Calvin & Hobbes is far better known than the nickname of a character in a computer game. That said, I have no objection to turning Hobbes into a disambig. My sole problem is that the Thomas Hobbes article is much too important to clutter with the nicknames of characters in computer games. (or comics for that matter). Mikker ... 20:37, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

I have never in my life heard of these computer game characters but I am fairly certain that Calvin and Hobbes are very well known.

There is a third solution, which I've just implemented. Hobbes (disambiguation) includes links to here, Calvin and Hobbes, and one for the game character. Hobbes still redirects to this page, and at the top instead of a link to Calvin and Hobbes there's one to the disambiguation page. See Birmingham or Bristol for other examples. --ajn (talk) 20:42, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
Bit of a shame to cut off a good war before its properly begun, but that does look like a sensible solution :-) William M. Connolley 20:57, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
Quite! Incidents like these really make me believe in WP! Jimbo would prob be proud... (and, yes, shame on nipping the war in the budd :). Mikker ... 21:04, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
It's a problem which crops up quite often in city pages. Boston is another example - personally, I always assume Boston, Lincolnshire when I see the word, but I'm very much in a global minority there. Birmingham is a bit trickier, as the US and UK cities are both well-known, and there was some argument recently about whether Birmingham should be a disambiguation page or whether it should redirect to the English city. --ajn (talk) 10:27, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] name of Recent Biography?

I recall watching BookTV about 5 or 6 years ago that taped a graduate school seminar of Hobbes given by a bigorapher Anyone know the name of the book or author? John wesley 15:17, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism Repair?

I'm ashamed to say I don't know how to fix the vandalism on the "Thomas Hobbes" page. Maybe someone else does.

Somehow the vandal has replaced the initial "Early Life" section with the following:

"Image:Http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Thomas Hobbes (portrait).jpg

Hobbes was very good friends with Lexington Steele, Nacho Vidal and Peter North. He back packed around Thailand once, but didn't think much of it. HE masturbated profusely, and ejaculated a great deal. He was heavily influenced by Mandingo, almost to the point og plagiarism."

Trouble is, I can't find that text when I go to edit...the "Early Life" text appears to be there, but when I go back to see, the other stuff is still taking its place. --starfarmer 01:56, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Fixed by Jaderaid: [1] William M. Connolley 10:50, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] John Wallis section biased

Does anyone else think that the controversies section with Wallis uses non-neutral language?

e.g. "...a criticism which exposed the utter inadequacy of Hobbes's mathematics." "Hobbes's lack of rigour meant that he spent himself in vain attempts to solve the impossible problems that often waylaid self-sufficient beginners" "he never had any notion of the full scope of mathematical science. "He was unable to work out with any consistency the few original thoughts he had, and thus was an easy target." "Wallis had an easy task in defending himself against Hobbes's criticism..." "The thrusts were easily parried by Wallis in a reply (Hobbiani puncti dispunctio, 1657). Hobbes finally took refuge in silence and there was peace for a time."

And so on...

I'm a bit of a wiki-newbie, but a) it's an awful lot to be devoting to Wallis in a page about Hobbes, b) the language is clearly biased, c) it looks like it was all written by one person from 72.79.28.236 on 1 June.

Should it just be deleted?

60.234.232.62 13:18, 10 June 2006 (UTC)Keith Ng

The only book on Hobbes I own is at work so I can't check, but my recollection is that Hobbes's mathematical theories were indeed very poor, and he spent a lot of time and energy defending them. That section could do with references, but I don't think it's one-sided. --ajn (talk) 15:06, 10 June 2006 (UTC)
The chronology in the OWC edition of Leviathan says Hobbes was "manifestly worsted" in the controversy with Wallis and Seth Ward. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy says he "entered into some unfortunate mathematical controversies by claiming he had squared the circle". Bertrand Russell, who I would have expected to mention the matter in his History of Western Philosophy, doesn't. --ajn (talk) 14:49, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

You might tone it down a bit but I think the general principal is fair: Hobbes's maths didn't fare well William M. Connolley 15:52, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Golden Rule

Hillel's golden rule was the golden rule in negation, just as you say was Hobbes' rule. Hillel came a good deal before Hobbes and therefore it is misleading to say that the Christian golden rule in negation is Hobbes' when in fact is it just that of Hillel and Judaism. Euroster 02:44, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

uh? Mikker (...) 21:32, 28 September 2006 (UTC)


I also think that the negative golden rule is a bit misleading, and it makes the "christian" rule seem to say that one SHOULD do to others what they don't want to themselves. Just my two cents ~Tyler~ 10 AM 26 October

[edit] Reference citations

It seems to be a good article, but would very much benefit from the inclusion of several reference citations. Badbilltucker 15:45, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism

There's a lot of vandalsim on this page; I regret to say I was unable to fix it and I hope somebody else is able to. There's some stuff in the 'early life and education' portion of the article, but it doesn't appear when I try to edit. Returning to the article, it's still there. Bubble fish 14:56, 8 December 2006

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