Theological Origins of Modernity

hobbes’ fearful wisdom 237
Or to put the matter in diff erent terms, good is an increase in our power
and evil its decrease. Th e greatest good is thus progressing towards satisfaction
with the least hindrance, and the greatest evil the cessation of all
movement in death. Each person in Hobbes’ view is thus a self-interested
individual who seeks to maximize his own power and satisfaction. Th e
problem is that we are also in competition with other human beings. In
our eff orts to become masters and possessors of nature we are driven to
seek mastery not only over natural beings but over human beings as well.
In the state of nature, we are thus constantly at war with one another.
Indeed, the principal threat to our preservation and power, according to
Hobbes, comes from other humans. Th e reasons for this are not obvious,
given Hobbes’ physics. Disease, drought, predatory animals, earthquakes,
storms, and the like threaten us in real and unmistakable ways. Why then
are humans more dangerous than more massive, speedy, and numerous
nonhuman beings? Th e simple answer is that for Hobbes humans are more
powerful because they use language. Language enables humans to extend
their sway over the world and thus to become extraordinarily dangerous
to other human beings. For Hobbes, the use of signs gives humans an extended
memory that opens up both a past and future and thus makes selfawareness
possible. 99 In contrast to all other beings, we have a capacity to
recognize the ends towards which our passions direct us, the means for attaining
these ends, the obstacles that stand in the way, and the dangers that
threaten our existence. Th e world for humans is thus both more promising
and more threatening than it is for animals. Insofar as we recognize this
danger and are driven by fear to seek a remedy, we fi nd ourselves in a life
and death struggle with other humans for dominance. Unlike ants or bees,
we have no natural hierarchy and are more or less equal individuals driven
by a desire for preservation and well-being. 100 We recognize that this can
only be achieved by obtaining the means necessary to meet our needs.
Since these needs extend into the future, our needs are limitless. Th erefore
only the mastery of all human and natural motion can provide security
and put an end to fear. Th e desire that all humans have for such means
leads them into the war of all against all.
Fortunately, the use of language that makes humans so dangerous also
makes it possible to eliminate this danger. Th e war of all against all that
characterizes life in the state of nature can be overcome by reason through
the construction of an artifi cial world, the commonwealth, to supplement
the world that God created. Human artifi ce thus can repair the work of
divine artifi ce, so that humans can live peacefully with one another. In
contrast to Descartes, who sought only to control the motions of natural