Chapter 6:
Hobbes's Materialist Psychology and His Non-Cognitivist
Theory of Normative and Evaluative Judgment
Key elements: Appetite, desire, love, aversion, hate, joy,
and grief.
What they explain: Good, evil, and contemptible.
Voluntary
action. Deliberation.
The Will
Is Hobbes an Egoist?
The Crucial
Equivocation: "[O]f the voluntary
acts of every man, the object is some
good to himself." (122).
"[O]f all voluntary acts, the object is to every man his
own good."(129)
The Paradox of Egoism: How Hobbes's Psychology Can Explain it.
The language of the passions
Non-cognitivism about the good.
MORAL COGNITIVISM AND NON-COGNITIVISM, REALISM AND
ANTI-REALISM.
MORAL COGNITIVISM:
Normative Moral Statements make claims that are true or false.
MORAL NONCOGNITIVISM:
Normative Moral Statements do not make claims that are true or
false. [They may express sentiments or
attitudes.]
MORAL REALISM: Some
positive moral statements are true.
[Moral realism implies Moral Cognitivism.]
MORAL ANTI-REALISM: No
moral statements are true. There are no
objective moral values and no objective moral imperatives. [Moral Noncognitivists
must be Moral Anti-Realists. Is it
possible for a Moral Cognitivist to be a Moral
Anti-Realist?]
Chapter 13: The State of
The Internal Security
CAP: The War of All Against
All
What are the crucial
assumptions?
Competition,
diffidence, and glory.
Is there justice or injustice
in the state of nature? Why or why not? What does he mean by "no mine and thine distinct"?
Hobbes's way out of the state
of nature involves passions and reason. How
does it involve passions? How does it
involve reason?
HOBBES'S STATE OF
Everyone else
|
|
Make
Peace (C) |
Make War (D) |
|
Make Peace (C) |
+100, +100 |
-110, -99 |
|
Make War (D) |
+110, +95 |
-100, -100 |
WHY DOES HOBBES PREDICT A WAR OF ALL AGAINST ALL?
Chapter 14. How Reason and
Passion Provide a Way Out of the State of
Right vs. Law of Nature
What is the Fundamental Right
of Nature?
What is the Fundamental Law
of Nature?
What is the Second Law of
Nature?
Contracts, Covenants, and
Gifts
When are contracts or covenants binding?
To be binding, does a contract or covenant have to be
expressly agreed to?
The need for an Original
Contract/Covenant which makes all contracts/covenants binding, including itself.
What are the terms of the
Original Contract? How does Hobbes determine
them? To be discussed in Chapter 18.
Are covenants entered into
from fear of death binding? Why?
Which covenants cannot be
binding? (Another way of asking this
question: Which rights are inalienable?)
Chapter 15: The Necessary Conditions for Justice
What is justice? What is injustice?
The Fool's Challenge: To be discussed later.
How many other Laws of Nature
are there? What are they?
What is Hobbes' Formula for
the Laws of Nature: The Golden Rule.
Chapter 16 sets the stage for
men in the state of nature to covenant obedience to a sovereign power.
Representation
of many by one, based on consent.
Multiple representatives must
abide by majority rule.
Chapter 17 explains the need
for an Original Covenant to establish a Commonwealth to escape the State of
What is the difference
between human beings, on the one hand, and the bees and the ants, on the other?
Covenants without the sword
"are but words".
The only way out of the State
of Nature
What is a COMMONWEALTH?
What is a SOVEREIGN?
Commonwealth by Institution (Chap.
18)
Commonwealth by Acquisition
(Chap. 20)
Chapter 18 states the terms
of the Original Covenant that establishes a sovereign by consent ("by
Institution"). Note that the same
terms hold when the sovereign is established by force ("by
Acquisition"). See Chap. 20.
Does Hobbes require unanimous
consent to the Original Covenant?
Can there be breach of the
covenant by the sovereign?
Why can there be no binding
covenant between sovereign and subject?
Why can the sovereign not do
any injustice to a subject?
What are the sovereign's
powers?
(Note that these powers are
expanded upon in Chap. 29.)
Why does Hobbes insist that
these rights of sovereignty are "essential and inseparable"?
How does Hobbes justify the
sovereign's powers? Is it a moral
justification?
The Guiding Idea of Hobbes's political
philosophy: The need to avoid conflict.
NOTE: Hobbes is the author of the idea that it is
part of the definition of a state that it have a
monopoly on the legitimate use of force.
Chap. 19.
Three kinds of
sovereignty: Monarchy, Democracy, and
Aristocracy.
Which does Hobbes favor? Why?
Chap. 20. Paternal and Despotical Dominion
What is the only difference
between a commonwealth by institution and a commonwealth by acquisition?
Are there differences in the
rights of the sovereign?
How does a sovereign acquire
dominion over the children of his subjects?
What is the "greatest
objection" to Hobbes's account?
What is Hobbes's reply?
Chap. 21.
What liberty do subjects have?
Do subjects have any
inalienable rights?
Recall Chap. 14.
Chapter 26. Hobbes's
Philosophy of Law
Why is the sovereign not
subject to the law?
What does Hobbes mean by
"law can never be against reason"?
(Whose reason?)
What are the conditions for a
valid law?
(1) Scope
(2) Publicity (for positive,
not natural law)
(3) Who interprets the law?
Natural law vs. positive law
Can the sovereign make a
mistake?
Civil disobedience and
conscientious objection to the law
Chap. 29. Infirmities of
a Commonwealth
The six infirmities: Not enough sovereign power or the division of
power.
Against freedom of expression
and freedom of the press:
the danger of "democratical
writers"
Hobbes Fear of Conflict: Why did he think that separation of powers
would make a government less stable or that freedom of expression and freedom
of the press would make a government less stable? Could they make a government more stable?
What is the only way for a
commonwealth to be dissolved?
Chap. 30.
Can any law be unjust?
This is the big issue between
Hobbes and Locke.
Is there a standard of
justice that applies to sovereigns?
Is there a standard of
justice that applies in the State of
Can any law be bad? What is a good law?