Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes Book Analysis

Thomas Hobbes’s section in Leviathan titled “Why certain creatures without reason, or speech, do nevertheless live in society, without any coercive power” shows that Hobbes believes that even though it is possible for some creatures to live without a higher power, it is impossible for humans to do so.  Hobbes proposes six different arguments to try and prove why humans are incapable of living in a society without this “coercive power,” and some may be more enthralling than others, however many of these arguments offer a valid perspectives into showing how Hobbes’s perspective may in fact be correct, however these are arguments not facts so they are not intended to offer universal truths, but rather the things that Hobbes believes are true.  These arguments show how in some ways the lack of reason and speech among creatures like ants and bees actually allows them to function more as a whole society rather than functioning as an individual of society.  In this passage, it shows the Hobbes believes that since humans have these abilities like speech and reason we are almost cursed in such a way that would not allow us to function in a society similar to those of ants and bees where we work communally.  In each of Hobbes’s arguments, he offers a reason for why humans can’t live in a society without a “coercive power.”

In Hobbes’ first argument he argues that humans are too competitive over “honor and dignity” to be able to strictly function as a community rather than an individual.  In today's society this argument would most certainly be true, everyday most people wake up hoping to do better than their competition.  Their competition could come from anywhere as well, it could be in work, school, sports, or even just beating people to the line at the local coffee shop.  According to Hobbes’s second argument, Hobbes says that these creatures like bees and ants have a common good that does not differ from their own personal good, while humans personal good differs dramatically from the common good of their society.  This claim by Hobbes is very arguable.  Although it may seem that the common good of humans is different from an individual’s personal interests, these interests may not stray as far from the common good as one might believe.  In the past this may have been the case, however today the common good is becoming more and more important to society because the common good has an effect on our individual interests, therefore we must take the common good into our own interests.  His third argument is based on the ability for humans to use reason while other species do not have this ability.  Since other species are not able to use reason, there is no way for them to see fault in the administration or governing body in their societies.  For the human race however, we do have the ability to use reason, and we as individuals will always question those in power, and we will always have disagreements amongst each other.  This argument that is presented is very notable in modern society because it is essentially a fact, and a well known one, that we disagree with those in power, whether it be those in charge of our own society or those in charge of another society.  Hobbes’s fourth argument is that in these other species there are good and evil, for humans there is good and evil as well, however because of our strong speech abilities we are able to persuade other people into believing that there are good things within the evil that may justify doing evil actions.  This argument that is presented should also be considered to be true because when comparing humans to other species our speech and communication abilities are vastly more complex and we have the ability of persuasion, and  convincing others into doing or believing something that is only true to a select few people, or just entirely not true at all.  For the penultimate argument, Hobbes says that most creatures cannot tell the difference between injury and damage, which means as long as they are at ease, they will not be offended by their fellows.  However, humans are most troublesome when they are at ease because when they are at ease they have the want to exemplify their wisdom and attempt to control the actions of the governing forces.  This is yet another arguable point that Hobbes makes because it is based on the individual who is in question and whether or not they want to do these things when they are at ease.  This would vary based on each human individual, some may want to show their wisdom, while others may be content to continue to do what has been tasked to them.  The final argument that Hobbes makes is that in other species, their agreements to serve the common good is natural because it is unanimously known that the common good is what interests every individual, but for people the agreement to serve the common good is artificial because the common good may not be in everyone's self interest. This is why Hobbes believes that a common power is needed to create a secondary source of making the common good in everyone's interest.  This argument is a situational argument because there are certain scenarios in which the common good does serve everyone’s self interest in certain societies.

This section in the Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes portrays the beliefs of Hobbes himself and shows how he thinks that human societies are unable to live in a successful society without a higher or common power.  Of these six arguments, some are true, while others may be far from the truth which shows that these ideas are simply just the opinion of Hobbes and are not universally accepted.  This excerpt gives a good overall idea of what Hobbes believes.