Thomas Hobbes: Self Love - Olena's

Self Love*
Thomas Hobbes (1839)
*Title supplied by editor.
Ethics & Contemporary Issues
Professor Douglas Olena

Motion 39
Hobbes in a classical style of explanation shows the
route from which our ordinary desires proceed.
He shows how the animal motions produce human
Endeavor.
40 Then endeavor is split into two types;
Appetite or Desire
Aversion

Motion 40
“That which men desire, they are said to LOVE: and
to HATE those things for which they have aversion.”
“Those things which we neither desire, not hate, we
are said to contemn; CONTEMPT being nothing else
but an immobility…[or rebellion] of the heart in
resisting the actions of certain things.
Our appetite, aversion and contempt may change
because of the continual changeability of human
dispositions.

Values 40
Whatever man desires, he calls good; the object of
his hate and aversion evil; the object of his contempt,
vile and inconsiderable.
Hobbes takes it that good, evil and contemptible are
only descriptions of our sentiment, not some
description of the object’s nature.
“Felicity of this life consisteth not in the repose of a
mind satisfied. There is no such… utmost aim,… or
greatest good.”

Values 40
Man is inclined to desire power, but is not satisfied
with it.
Each gain of power is accompanied by the desire for
more.
A man dies when he no longer desires anything.

Equality and Competition 41
With respect to man’s mind, he is equal with others
in prudence, which Hobbes defines as experience.
Contentment with one’s share is the sign of equality.
“From this equality of ability, ariseth equality of hope
in the attaining of our ends.
When two desire the same thing that they both
cannot enjoy, they become enemies.”

Competition and Diffidence
41
Enemies attempt to destroy or subdue one another.
But the conqueror is always vulnerable to be
conquered.
“And from this diffidence of one another, there is no
way for any man to secure himself.”
Whatever measures a man must take to secure
himself should be allowed, even conquest.

Diffidence and Glory 41
That gives no pleasure, rather grief in that there is
no power to overawe one’s contemporaries.
“Everyone looks to others to value him even as he
values himself.”
If someone contemns him, he either makes an
example of or destroys him.

Causes of Quarrel 41
Competition:
One invades another for gain.
Diffidence:
One invades for safety.
Glory:
One invades for reputation.

War 41
There is war when there is no one to overawe
them in power.
It is every man against every man.
“So the nature of war consisteth not in actual
fighting; but in the known disposition thereto,
during all the time there is no assurance to the
contrary.”

War 41
For example, the cold war between the Soviets and
the U.S. or the war on terror.
“All other time is PEACE.”

War 42
During war, there is no place for industry because of
uncertainty, no culture, no navigation, nor imports of
commodities, no commodious building, no knowledge,
no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society and
there is continual fear and the danger of violent
death.
“…and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish
and short…”

War 42
It is not always that bad, but when there is a
continual fixation on warlike activities, the entire
culture suffers and individuals in it.
“All society therefore is either for gain, or for glory;
that is, not so much for love of our fellows, as for
the love of ourselves.”
No society which begins with vain glory can last, for
if everyone has honor, then no one has it. Those
individuals persist only by comparison with their
inferiors.

Society 42
If there were no fear in men, society would proceed
by domination rather than by egalitarian society.
“We must therefore resolve, that the original of all
great and lasting societies consisted not in the
mutual goodwill men had towards each other, but in
the mutual fear they had of each other.”

Society 42
Men are equals in strength.
Society exists in the tension of that equality by
stipulating leadership by the civil law.
We should therefore not look scornfully on self care
or preservation.
“It is… neither absurd nor reprehensible, neither
against the dictates of true reason, for a man to use
all his endeavors to preserve and defend his body
and the members thereof from death and sorrows.”

Our Rights 43
“Therefore the first foundation of natural right is
this, that every man as much as is in him lies
endeavor to protect his life and members.”
“He must also be allowed a right to use all the
means, and do all the actions, without which he
cannot preserve himself.”

Our Rights 43
All other rights are given to him by nature for man
to do as he wishes for his own profit.
By this we conclude “that in the state of nature, to
have all and do all, is lawful for all.”
“…that in a state of nature, profit is the measure of
right.”

Conflict 43
However the conflict arises because every man has a
right to the same things. So one has the right to
something, the other a right to resist his taking it.
War is the state of conflict where by words or deeds,
men are in a contest of wills to acquire what they
deem good.