This document provides an overview of Thomas Hobbes' political philosophy as outlined in his work Leviathan. It discusses Hobbes' social contract theory and the emergence of the sovereign authority. Hobbes argues humans surrender their freedoms and form a commonwealth, with the sovereign given absolute power to maintain peace and order. The document also summarizes Hobbes' views on human nature, the different forms of government, and criticisms of his philosophy.

1. Sidra Aadil
Anum Qadri
Nabia Ghias Sheikh
Zainab Dar
Fatima Javed
Warda Tariq

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS:
• Social Contract of Hobbes
• Hobbes’ forms of Government
• Monarchy
• Leviathan
 Book 1
 Law of Nature
 Commonwealth
 Book 2
• Hobbes’ individualism
• Hobbes’ human nature
• Consequences of Social Contract
• Criticism

3. SOCIAL CONTRACT OF HOBBES:
Hobbes’ Theory of Social Contract first time appeared in Leviathan in
1651 during the civil war in Britain. According to Hobbes, prior to social
contract man lives in state of nature; chaotic conditions of constant fear.
Man has natural desire for security and order. For this, they surrender
their freedom and rights to some authority by a contract who must
command obedience.
This lead to emergence of monarchy as mightiest authority to protect
and preserve their lives and property. Moral obligations are placed on
sovereign and he will be bound by natural law. Hobbes is a supporter of
absolutism. He upheld the principle of might is right.
“Law is dependent upon the sanction of the sovereign and the
Government without sword are but words and of no strength to secure a
man at all”
- Hobbes

4. Hobbes says humans are necessarily and exclusively self-interested.
All men pursue only what they perceive to be in their own
individually considered best interests. Men are drawn to that
which they desire and repelled by that to which they are
averse. They are reasonable and can pursue their desire
efficiently.
They ought to be willing to submit themselves to political
authority.

5. Hobbes impels subjects to surrender all their rights and vest all
liberties in the sovereign for preservation of peace, life and
prosperity of the subjects.
It is in this way the natural law became a moral guide or
directive to the sovereign for preservation of the natural rights of
the subjects.
All real law is civil law, the laws commanded and enforced by
the sovereign and are brought into the world for nothing else but
to limit the natural liberty of particular men, in such a manner, as
they might not hurt but to assist one another and join against a
common enemy.
Hence, Individualism, materialism, utilitarianism and
absolutions are inter-woven in the theory of Hobbes.

6. HOBBES FORMS OF GOVERNMENT:
Hobbes in actual talked about three forms of government totally
different from each other. Monarchy, Aristocracy and democracy
are his main concern in specifically talking about the forms of
government.
He classified and explained the concept of three forms of
government in a way that when all the powers are vested in a man
by the state he is said to be monarchic but at the same time when
the powers are vested in assembly it is said to be democratic form
of government at that point of time. And if specifically talks about
power given to few persons it would be called as Aristocratic form
of government.
He specifically talked about three forms of government and added
no space for any further form of government; that he doesn’t
believe in mixed form of government.

7. MONARCHY:
The preference he gave more was on the Monarchic
government calling it as a best form of government.
Apart from Monarchy, He rather believed in that particular
form of government which could bring up the peace and
security in the country. In his explanation of the forms of
government he rather was much against the division of the
powers.
He believed the only division of the power between the Kings,
Lords, and commons was responsible who could bring civil war
and yet a source of destruction it was.

8. According to him, Monarchy guarantees stability and
uniformity which actually helps in preventing from falling into
any chaotic situation in any type of country having this
particular form of government.
Whereas, he supported Monarchy with a fact that in a
monarchic form of government the competition for the seat,
offices and posts is less as compared to aristocracy and that of
democracy. The major advantage he came up with was that the
monarchs of any country have the same interests as that of the
people.

9. LEVIATHAN:
Leviathan was written by Thomas Hobbes in
1651.
It is regarded as one of the earliest and most
influential examples of social contract theory.
Written during the English Civil War,
Leviathan argues that civil peace and social
unity are best achieved by the establishment
of a commonwealth through social contract.
Hobbes’s ideal commonwealth is ruled by a
sovereign power and granted absolute
authority to ensure the common defense.

10. COMMONWEALTH:
In his introduction, Hobbes describes this commonwealth as an
"artificial person" and as a body politic that mimics the human body.
The frontispiece to the first edition of Leviathan, which Hobbes
helped design, portrays the commonwealth as a gigantic human form
built out of the bodies of its citizens, the sovereign as its head.
Hobbes calls this figure the "Leviathan," a word derived from the
Hebrew for "sea monster" and the name of a monstrous sea creature
appearing in the Bible; the image constitutes the definitive metaphor
for Hobbes's perfect government.
His text attempts to prove the necessity of the Leviathan for
preserving peace and preventing civil war.

11. Book I of Leviathan contains the philosophical framework for the
entire text, while the remaining books simply extend and elaborate
the arguments presented in the initial chapters.
Hobbes describes human psychology without any reference to
greatest good, which he considers superfluous and given the
variability of human desires, there could be no such thing.
Book 2 of Leviathan details the process of standing the Leviathan,
outlines the rights of sovereigns and subjects, and imagines the
civil mechanics of the commonwealth.
Natural inclinations of men toward power impels them to break
contracts, thus the basic social contract of the commonwealth must
vest power in one central authority with power to punish those
who break the contract.

12. LAW OF NATURE:
• Hobbes concludes his first law of nature that natural man, in
order to preserve life, must seek peace.
• The second law of nature follows upon the mandate to seek
peace.
• The third law of nature states that it is not enough simply to
make contracts, but that we are required to keep the contracts we
make.
• The fourth law of nature is to show gratitude toward those who
maintain the contract so that no one will regret having complied
with the contract.
• The fifth law states that we must be accommodating to others for
the purpose of protecting the contract and not quarrel over minor
issues.

13. HOBBES’ INDIVIDUALISM:
"The natural state of man's life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and
short"
- Thomas Hobbes
Hobbes is generally identified as the most important direct predecessor
of modern individualist philosophy. Hobbes has ascribed to all
individuals natural liberty on the basis of which they are licensed to
undertake whatever actions are necessary in order to preserve
themselves from their fellow creatures.
Hobbes believed that the exercise of such natural liberty logically leads
to unceasing conflict and unremitting fear so long as no single
sovereign ruler exists to maintain peace.
Hence it can be summarized that the goal of Hobbes’ philosophy is
simply survival.

14. HOBBES’ HUMAN NATURE:
Hobbes believed that human beings naturally desire the power
to live well and that they will never be satisfied with the power
they have without acquiring more power. He believes there
usually succeeds a new desire such as fame and glory, ease and
sensual pleasure or admiration from others. He also believed
that all people are created equally. That everyone is equally
capable of killing each other. Hobbes believed that the nature of
humanity leads people to seek power.

15. CONSEQUENCES OF THE SOCIAL
CONTRACT THEORY:
• The force of the sovereign is absolute. This is on account of the
sovereign is the consequence of the agreement, not a gathering
to the contract. The contract is unavoidable. Men surrendered
all their rights to the sovereign.
• No force in the state ought to be permitted to test the sovereign.
The sovereign is additionally no punishable. The sovereign is
the sole judge to choose what is important for the peace and
safeguard of his subjects. Power may be government in light of
the fact that a ruler may give more noteworthy consistency in
arrangement.
• Sovereign has the power to hear and choose all debates in
regards to common or criminal laws.
• Sovereign has the power to announce war and close peace.

16. • Hobbes says that the subjects can delight in just those rights
which the sovereign licenses. Freedom is the endowment of the
sovereign. Liberty of the subject thus consisted in: 1. what the
sovereign has permitted. 2. What the sovereign has not
permitted and 3. The right of self-preservation which is retained
by the people.
• There is stand out contract in Hobbes. This is an agreement
entered into by the individuals among themselves. this
agreement secured a ruler. There is no agreement between the
individuals and the sovereign.
• Hobbes was attempting to accommodate a tyrant government
with political power as got from the individuals. the individuals
surrendered their common rights for the purpose of self-conservation.
Accordingly, they needed to pay a substantial cost
for peace.

17. CRITICISM:
Gauthier, Kleinerman, and Van Mill have given the most famous
critiques about Hobbes’ political philosophy.
• Logic versus Irrationality
• Curbing civil liberties
• Pessimistic ideas
• Anti Democratic
• Conception of limited resources
• Rejecting basic individual right
• Universalization of the appetites and aversions
• Contradiction
• Reality of a Leviathan