Thomas Hobbes: Biography Of This English Philosopher
In this article we will see a biography of Thomas Hobbes English philosopher of the 17th century, referring to his origins, his career and some of his most notable works.
As we will see, Hobbes is considered one of the founders of contractualism, and was a conservative philosopher, who traveled widely and who advocated an absolutist political regime. We will explore his thoughts through his philosophical and social ideas, which were materialist and deterministic.
Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679), full name Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, and also known as Thomas Hobbs Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, who specialized in political philosophy Hobbes was born on April 5, 1588 in Westport, near Malmesbury (England), and died on December 4, 1679 in Derbyshire (England).
Hobbes is especially remembered for being considered one of the founders of modern political philosophy. One of his most notable works, “Leviathan” (1651), was the basis of Western political philosophy, which focused on the theory of the social contract. Thus, in this work, Hobbes lays the foundations of contractarian theory.
Contractualism
Contractarian theory (or contractualism) is a current of modern political philosophy and law, which establishes that Society enjoys a series of social rights and advantages in exchange for accepting that its freedoms are limited by a series of laws that they must follow and comply with.
Thus, regarding Hobbes’s political philosophy, he highlights the idea of the social contract on which political communities were based (i.e. contractualism).
Law and politics
On the other hand, Hobbes also developed some of the foundations of European liberal thought , and spoke, for example, of equality as a fundamental right, of rights and of the artificial nature of the political order. Thus, although his thinking is absolutist, he also makes some contributions to liberal thought.
Thomas Hobbes believed that legitimate political power should be representative and based on the consent of the people. He also spoke of laws; In this sense, he believed that everything that has not been explicitly prohibited is permitted.
Origin
Thomas Hobbes was the son of a Westport clergyman. His mother’s name is unknown, and in fact, much of his childhood is also unknown.
In 1603, Hobbes studied at the University of Oxford, at Magdalen Hall. There studies scholastic philosophy and logic and graduated five years later, in 1608. It was in that same year that he began to “rub shoulders” with the nobility and the most intellectual social class, as a result of taking care of the son of the Earl of Devonshire (William Cavendish). .
At only twenty-two years old, Thomas Hobbes embarked on his first trip through Europe, in the year 1610; From that trip, Hobbes realizes the power that scholasticism (theological and philosophical current) still exercises in many of the fields of knowledge.
Intellectual and professional career
Regarding his professional career, Thomas Hobbes published in 1628 a translation of Thucydidesa work that criticizes the democratic system and mentions its dangers, through a frankly conservative perspective.
William Cavendish, the earl mentioned and whose son Hobbes cares for, died in 1629. From then on, Hobbes becomes the tutor of Gervase Clinton’s son, with whom he travels through Europe, and discovers geometry In fact, Thomas Hobbes also finds one of his passions in geometry, and tries to apply it to the social and political principles that he has defended so much.
Trips
As we see, Thomas Hobbes was a great traveler. In one of his trips, specifically his third through Europe, made in 1637, The English philosopher is related to the circle of Marin Mersenne (an important French priest, mathematician and philosopher of the time).
From there Hobbes establishes contact with two prominent figures: René Descartes and Pierre Gassendi. He meets more important authors, such as Galileo, also on one of his trips (this time in Italy, in 1636). Knowing Galileo influenced the development of his social philosophy based on geometry and natural sciences.
After several trips, Hobbes finally returned to his homeland, England, in 1637. It was then that the philosopher secretly circulated a manuscript titled Elements of law; At that time, there are clashes between the king and parliament. In this work, Hobbes defends the need for absolute sovereignty (versus parliamentarism)
However, after circulating his work, the English philosopher did not feel calm, and fearing the consequences of such dissemination, he voluntarily went into exile in France in November. But Hobbes continues writing, and in 1642 he publishes Of cive, which consists of a theory about government. He also begins to write another work, de corporewhich constitutes the first work of a trilogy that deals with “the man, the citizen and the body.”
Hobbes’ philosophy
Delving now into the most theoretical part of this author, we ask ourselves, what was Hobbes’ philosophy like? This was based on two currents: materialism and determinism In fact, Hobbes’ philosophy forms the most complete materialist doctrine of the 17th century.
According to him, the universe is a great corporeal machine, in which the strict laws of mechanism are followed. Through these laws, Any phenomenon can be explained by purely quantitative elements that is: matter, movement and collisions of matter in space.
To illustrate all this a little, we remember one of Hobbes’ phrases in his work Leviathanwhich goes like this: “The universe is corporeal. Everything that is real is material and what is not material is not real.”
In this phrase we see how Thomas Hobbes’ philosophy was materialist. His vision of his philosophy, moreover, was linked to a deterministic position on the world; that is to say, For him, all the phenomena that occur in the universe are determined irremediably, by a causal chain of events.
In other words: “nothing happens by chance”, but everything that happens is the necessary result of a series of causes. As a result, it is understood that everything, in a certain way, can be anticipated or foreseen.
Determinism
The philosopher’s determinism It is based on a rationalist method, which has a purely geometric and mathematical character This method is, in reality, Descartes’ analytical-synthetic method, and is based on the hypothesis that “the parts of a whole (the causes of things) must be decomposed into smaller parts, in order to explain and understand the whole or the parts in their entirety.”
Policy
We have seen how in the work of Leviathan Much of Thomas Hobbes’ ideas regarding politics are reflected. His political ideas (and in relation to political philosophy) clash with the decentralizing (parliamentary) ideas of the moment
At that time, the Reformation proposed an ideological and conscience freedom that Hobbes did not support. According to Hobbes, these Reformation ideas would lead to anarchy, chaos, and revolution.
This is why Hobbes advocates, as we have already seen, absolutism as an ideal political regime; According to him, this regime would combat all these “evils” that ideological freedom and parliamentarism would probably give rise to.
