Summary - Leviathan
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ScribdTranslationsSummary - Leviathan
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ScribdTranslationsTHEME:
LEVIATHAN
STUDENT:
Mr. Castillo Asmat José Félix
TEACHER:
Dr. Nicanor Asmat Vega
COURSE:
Theory of the State and Governance
LIMA–PERU
2018
LEVIATHAN
summary
Leviathan is a book written by the philosopher.EnglishThomas Hobbes,published in
1651.Where it establishes its doctrine of modern law as the basis of the
societiesand of thegovernmentslegitimate. In the first part, Hobbes begins with
analyze man in himself, in order to study him in society. Analyze the
human knowledge, whose origin is based on experience. What is the
accumulation of facts that are stored in memory, experience that gives you
It will allow being cautious in future actions to avoid falling into the bad.
experiences already lived, allowing us to enrich our knowledge and take
better individual or group decisions, the word is the basis of reason and is
acquires through action, being this a source of sensations and images that
They intellectualize after acquiring a methodology. Reason is characterized by
calculation of the consequences of our thoughts.
Subsequently, it examines human will and behavior, aiming
always to action motivated by desire: the power of man resides in his
the capacity to act and the acquisition of power becomes a pursuit
permanent and dominated by passion, one of the famous quoted phrases, 'Bellum
everyone against everyone”. The life of man is solitary, poor, evil, and brutish.
shortly, according to Hobbes, finds three basic reasons why conflicts arise
the State of Nature: The first one is competition, which causes man
invade to obtain something; the second, distrust for security; and the
third, the glory, for reputation. This political philosopher presents his 19 laws of the
human nature, each of which will profoundly influence philosophy
Western politics, while justifying or giving rise to the ideas of this philosopher.
on the need for a social contract.
In the second part; Of the State, Hobbes develops his idea of the contract or
social pact, developed by men as a guarantee of individual security and
as a way to put an end to the conflicts that by nature, generate these interests
individuals. Thus, moral laws oppose the natural passions of man,
being in turn natural laws. It also indicates the need for a State, to
who exercises the power, sets the limits and guides healthy coexistence. However, the
State conceived by Hobbes, which can be either a Monarchy, a
Aristocracy or a Democracy - it must be an absolute State, that does not contemplate the
separation of powers, and that it assumes some restrictions in the name of the common good
common of the people, even when the man has very little margin of free will,
which is also justified if one thinks that this would lead to well-being
mayor and collective..
For Hobbes, the most practical is monarchy; since the difference between
these types of government do not consist in the difference of power, but in the
convenience or suitability to ensure the peace and security of the people; after all,
it is the reason why they are instituted. When comparing the monarchy with the other two,
this deduces that where public and private interests are very united, the
the public is more favored. In the monarchy, the public and private interest are
the same. The riches, the power, and the honor of the monarch arise from the riches,
strength and reputation of its subjects. While in democracy or aristocracy,
public property does not yield as much individual fortune, leading to corruption, the
misuse of ambition, to betrayal or to civil war.
In the third part of the Christian state, and regarding the relations between
the spiritual power and the temporal power, Hobbes advocated for the total submission of the
Church to the sovereign. During the third part of the Leviathan, it speaks of the state.
Cristiano, Thomas Hobbes discusses how the interpretation of the divine word
it can also be a reason for war, since it is assumed that it originates
directly from God, has come to man through man, what can
bring differences and a break in harmony. In this way, an organized state and in
peace will not be able to depend on religion and its interpretation, hence for this
political philosopher the ideal is that the church is always subordinate to
power of the State, and never the other way around.
Finally, in part four, he talks about the kingdom of darkness Thomas Hobbes.
establishes a strong criticism of the church, as well as about the danger of falling into the
ignorance - which this philosopher compares to darkness - due to a bad
interpretation of the scriptures, which goes beyond making the message of religion
if understood incorrectly, man acts wrongly, distancing himself from the light
from wisdom and knowledge, to plunge into the realm of darkness.