Topic > Thomas Hobbes' View on the Importance of Government

The state of nature in accordance with mankind is one of man's most primal needs. The brutal ways of sentient beings who need to satisfy their need for food, violence, and sex are carried out out of necessity. The doubts of the human race begin with why we have those impulses and end with how we can exploit them. Thomas Hobbes was a political philosopher who believed that all people were selfish beings who enjoyed competition and winning. Oddly enough, Hobbes's belief that people live solely for their own personal gain did not interfere with his belief that people can also cooperate in the right scenario. Hobbes' philosophy was that man needed a governing body to prevent him from running wild and acting freely on his instincts, and in return he supported government and authority. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay True self-awareness comes from morality, and Hobbes believed that there could be no enforced moral code without a governing body. People would run rampant with no rules to abide by, and a society that acts on primal needs can be incredibly dangerous and barbaric. To escape the calamity of an archaic civilization, people must evolve and work together to ensure that proper laws are consistently respected and obeyed. Thomas Hobbes essentially believed that people were inherently evil, and with this notion he found the solution that involved people forming a government to decisively figure out what can be accepted as “right” and “wrong.” A moral compass is created when a group can objectively state what is allowed and what is not. Hobbes believed that man has difficulty deciding what choices to make since basic needs will always lead him down the most selfish path. The ideal utopia would consist of a governing body that ultimately adapts to judging situations so reasonably and objectively that it never creates hostile situations between anyone. When a society can trust its governing body in terms of safety and well-being infrastructure, then a golden age is reached. Being a political philosopher, Thomas Hobbes touches on moral issues and the original sin of man. Man's vices, misdeeds and so-called 'sins' all derive from primordial needs. Hobbes believed in a system that would help people escape their natural, unevolved instincts and that platform was government. To escape the state of nature that creates primal beasts from man, people must cooperate and embrace mutual knowledge to expand understanding. People can work together under the right circumstances and ignore each other's differences to quiet logic and suppress chaos. It is not impossible for a person to become self-sufficient without assuaging the barbarism of primal necessity, but having an authoritative body to turn to for guidance would certainly speed up the process. Free choice is in the heart and soul of every man, but Hobbes believed that we were all predisposed to a Neanderthal way of thinking and living. Whether Hobbes was right or not, government is still a necessity to keep society grounded. Authority is not a bad thing when respect is reciprocated.