THE
POLITICAL THEORY
OF POSSESSIVE
INDIVIDUALISM
Hobbes to Locke
CB, MACPHERSON
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESSvt Uy PW Sr, Oni 3 07
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Pre Ho KongPREFACE
Soar time ago I suggested that English political thought
from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries had) an
‘underlying unity which deserved notice. [called the unifying
assumption “possessive individualism’ and suggested that
central dificuties of liberl-democratc thought from John
‘Stuart Milla the present might be better understood ifthey
were seen to have been set by the persistence and deep-r00t-
‘edness of that assumption! The notion of possessive indivi-
‘lualiem promised leo to yield a fresh understanding of the
tain seventeenth-century political theories in some cates
resolving unsettled problems of their meaning.
‘The present work, which pursues that promise, has grown
lover several years. The study of Locke establishes, I hope, a
reading of his theory of property right which alters the gene-
ral view of his political theory. Parts ofthat study, which was
the frst to be done, were published in two articles in 1950
and 1954. 1 have not found it necessary to alter or add
Substantially to what T then said, though T have added
references to some subsequent work on Locke, The study
of Hobbes suggests that prevalent treatments of his politcal
theory leave a good deal to be understood, and offers an
alternative interpretation. The study of Leveller theory un=
Sertakes to correcta substantive crror inthe standard treat
‘ments, and explores the implications of the possessive aspect
of their notion of freedom. The study of Harrington seeks to
Sitengage his theory from the controversy over the gentry
land to show that it is better understood as having bourgeois
roots. Internal contradictions, especialy in Locke's and Har~
Tington's theories, which had hitherto. gone wnnaticed oF
been too easly dismissed, have been examined and used as
clues to the thinker's implicit assumptions; so teated, the
"Cami Farm i 8 Gone 40)contradictions pointed toa fuller understanding ofthe whole
theory,
Each study thus contributes I hope, soa more adequate,
andsomeo! them toamoreaccurate, understanding of seven”
fcenth-century English politcal thoughs, Together they may
‘be thought to establish the usefulness of the notion of posses-
sive individualism as a central asumption of liberal politial
theory
“Acknowledgement is made to the editors of the Wet
Police! Quarterly for permission to use material fst pob=
lished in its pages as two articles, “Locke on Capitalist Ap-
propriation, December 191, and “The Social Bearing of
Locke's Political Theory’, March 1954 and tothe editors of
Pert © Preset for permission to use the material on Hate
ington, which appeared in ite April 1960 issue
Friends and colleagues with whom [ have discussed most
‘of the ideas here presented have saved me rom someenthusi
fms, They will not wish to be thanked specially: some
‘of them have been more helpful than they know. So have my
Students, ho have made me aware of some difficulties in
the subject-matter and encouraged meta think they could be
"The paths of scholarship aresmoothed in different fashions
in itferene centuries: may be peemittedtorecordmy thanks
to the Nufield Foundation, the Canada Council, and my
town university, who have been pleased to thinle my studies
something, anc otherwise to oblige me with real testimonies
of their good opinion.
. B MACPHERSON
University of Toronte
Fine 3 196
CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION '
1. The Rot of Liter Denne Theory :
1 Problem of ntepreton 4
IL HOBBES: THE POLITICAL OBLIGATION OF
THE MARKET °
2 Phyo Poa he °
(@) Ateraon fom Scity 7
(0) The Sut of Nance »
(i) From Pyle to Sul Minn 23
4 Motes of Saxe: “
() Tre Une of Moser “
(2) Canomay oS Sciey °
(Gi) Simple Mae Soi s
(ix) Ponenive Maker Soy ss
(6) Hote nt the Pir Modet a
(0) The Inadegucy fhe Sut of Nature a
4: Pit Obigtion 7°
(0) From Mesiraton to Obiatinn »
(@) Mon or Prudential OBlgion? a
(Gi) The Pore of Equi %
() Monti Since, nd te Marker ”
(G) The Prenton of Obligtoe fom act. is
(0) Historia reese of the Dein &
(i) Tae Sa perpetoing Soverin »
(G2) Conrsence of Soverigty and Market Scey %
(6) Some Objeties Remit 100
UL THE LEVELLERS-PRANCHISE AND FREEDOM 107
2. Type of Frise :(@ The Chole 1
(i) Pets and Ate al
(i) etre Paey 9
Go) Samninewe 6
4 Thea nglatiot 1
(The Property it Ones Perce 7
(i) The Dado of Rips and he Ground fr Busine 142
(i) Levee and Inepeneae’ Isao: a
(i) Limits aed Dien ofthe Leelle’ Invigaom 154
IV, HARRINGTON: THE OPPORTUNITY STATE 160
1. Useamied Ambir 60
{The Equal Commons andthe Equal Apatian te
5: The SlCancling Bunce Pree we
¥, LOCKE: THE POLITICAL THEORY OF
APPROPRIATION 196
Tepes i
2 The Thesy of Progeny Right 19
(9 Laskes Parpve 97
(i) To Kia Lied Right 199
(i) The Limitations Transended 2s
() The ping Fn tor
(Gy The sien Tintain a
(0) Tee apps labour tation a4
(ip Laskes Aaievenent eo
5. Cau Direc ie Natal Right and Rasnaty at
(lakes Astin of the Dir in Sete
oar Eo a
(Gy Darn Rigsad Renaliy Genelied 09
(Dien rks a0
(6) Dire ratio 2
4. The Ambra Sate of Nett ae
5 The Ambigon Cin Soy
6, Und Problem Rewer
(9 Toe Jota Theory
(Maer Rae «Prep Right
(The Equation of nda and Majority Consent
(Teddi Cece
(9) Heke’ Connie
VL. POSSESSIVE INDIVIDUALISM AND LIBERAL
DEMOCRACY
1. The Sevenenth-Cenry Fowsatins
APPENDIX,
‘Sool Clue and Prachi Chan in Eagln, cic 148
WORKS AND EDITIONS CITED
INDEX
a1
a5
ws
yor
sesI
INTRODUCTION
1 The Rost of Liberal-Democratie Thesry
‘A ontar deal has been written in recent years about the
dificuly of finding a frm theoretical bass for the liberal
democratic state. As the dificuey persist, it seems worth
inguiring whether it may not le mich in the oots of the
liberal tradition asin any subsequent growth, For such an
Jnguity, the roots may properly be taken o bein the political
theory and practice of the English seventeenth century. It
vess then, in the course of a protracted struggle in pais:
rent, + civil war, a serice of republicen experiments, 5
restoration of the monarchy, anda Anal constitutional reve-
tion, that the principles which were to become basic to
liberal democracy were all developed, though not with equal
succes at che time, And it clear tha an essential ingredi-
cent, both of the practical struggle and of the theoretical
justifications, was & new bliin the value and the rights of
the individual,
‘Whether the individualism of the seventeenth century is
eplored a5 having undermined the Christian nacural law
tradition, or applauded as having opened new vists of
freedom and progres, it importance is not disputed. Nor
ig it doubted that individualism has been an outstanding
characteristic of the whole subsequent liberal tradition, In-
dividuals, as a basic cheortial positon, starsat least as
far back at Hobbes. Although his conclusion cam scarcely
be called liberal, his postulates were highly individualistic
Discarding trastional concepts of society, justice, and
natural ltr he deduced political rights and obligation from
the interest and will of dissociated individuals, Individualism‘of another sort, emphasizing the equal moral worth of every
human being, was clearly fundamental in Puritan political
thinking. nd individualism hae large, if ambiguous, place
in Locke's politcal theory. All these thearies were closely
‘elated tothe struggle for a more liberal state. The Puritan
theories and Locke's, between them, provided its. main
justification, Even the utilitarian doctrine which seemed to
supersede them in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
is at bottom onlya restatement ofthe individualist principles
‘which were worked out in the seventeenth century: Bentham
built on Hobhes.
(One would not expect fundamental politcal principles of
theseventeenth century tobe entirely auficient for achanged
and more complex twenlieth-century world, But one might,
txpect that they could still be builf upon, if they were as
folid as they seemed, chat is if chey corresponded as well a
they seemed to do tothe needs, aspirations, and capacities
‘of modern man, This expectation has not been fafled,
‘The foundations have cracked and tilted. If they are not to
beabandoned, they need to be repaired.
What kind of fundamental repair should be attempted
rust depend on the diagnosis of the weakness. There has
‘been no Tack of diagnoses. Ever since John Stuart Mill's
attack on Bentham’s uiitaranism, which had by then be-
ome the embodiment of polities! individualism, the weak-
ress of liberal indvidusliam has been more or less identified
with Benthan’s narrowly selfish, narrowly rationalist, ver~
fon oft, The Benthamite assumption that man in his poiti=
‘al relations was and should be trated a8 calculator of his
‘own interests, and that this exhausted his nature as political
‘man, has been seen as a perversion of the fundamental iberal
insights ofan earlier tation.
‘On this sore of diagnosis, the repair that was needed was
cone that would bring back a sense of the moral worth ofthe
individual, and combine ie again with a sense of the moral
‘value of community, which had been present im some mes
sure in the Puritan and Lockean theory. In this way it might
bbe hoped to get back to what scemed the desirable values
of individualism sehile discarding its excesses. The many
"tsempts todo this, ranging, since Mil from T. H. Green's
idealism through many kinds of modern pluralism, have
all run into serious difficulty, so much so that ie is worth
reconsidering the diagnosis,
The present study is an attempt to do this. It suggests
thatthe dificulies of modern lberal-democrati theory le
deeper than had been thought, thatthe original seventeenth-
Century individualism contains the centr! dificuty, which
lay in its possessive quality. Its possessive quality 5 found in
its conception of the individual as essentially the proprietor
of is own person or capacities, owing nothing to society for
them. The individual was seen neither as 4 moral whole
nor a8 part ofa larger social whole, but as an owner of him
elf. The relation of ownership, having become for more
and more men the critically important relation determining
‘heir actual freedom and actual prospect of realizing their
full potentialities, was read back into the nature of the
individual, The individ, it was thought, free inaemch
as he is proprietor of his person and capacities. The human
teasence ie freedom from dependence an the wil of others
Sand freedom isa function af possession. Socety becomes 4
lot of free equal individuals related to exch other a8 pro-
prictors of their own capacities and of what they have
Acquired by their exercise, Society consists of relations of
fexchange between propritors, Political society becomes a
Caleulated device fr the protection of thi property and for
the maintenance ofan orderly relation of exchange.
Te cannot be said that the seventeenth-century concepts
of freedom, rights, obligation, and justice are all entirely
derived From this concept of postesson, but ican be shown
that chey were powerfully shaped by it. We shall see that
postessive assumptions are present not only in the two main
Systematic theories of political obligation (Hobbes's and
Locke’) but also, where they might be least expected in the
theories of she radical Levellers and the gentry-mindedHarrington. I shall argue that these assumptions, which do
correspond substantially to the actual relations of a market
society, were what gave liberal theory ite strength in che
seventeenth century, but that they Became the source of its
weakness in the nineteenth, when the development of the
market society destroyed certain prerequisites for deriving
‘liberal cheory from possessive assumptions, while yet the
ociety conformed! so clorely to those assumptions that they
‘ould not be abandoned. They have not been abandoned ye,
ror can they be while market relations prevail. When we
Sce how deeply they are embedded in the original theory we
shall understand their persistence; when ther persistence
recognized we can consider how far iti responsible for the
ificulties of Hberal-democratie theory in our oven time
2 Problems of Interpretation
“The socal assumptions whose importance in seventeenth=
century politcal theory T have sought to establish have not
igenerilly been clearly identified and, therefore, I beliewe,
have not generally been given sufficient weight. Since most
fof them appeir in the theories as uncertain mixtures of
tssumptions about fact and assumptions about right, they
tend to be beneath or beyond the notice of both philo-
sophical and historial erties. And these social assumptions
‘an easily be overlooked, or undervalued, because they are
fometimes not explicit, or not fully formulated, in the
theories themselves. This raises a general problem of
‘To sty that « theorist has failed to state some of hie
assumptions clearly is of course to presume that he was
Using some assumptions beyond those he has explicitly
formulated. This presumption cannot be certainly” estab-
lished. Tt cannot be established merely by showing that
some unstated assumptions are logically required (38
‘commonly ae) to praduce the theory's conclusions
would have also to suppose that the theorist was a strictly
logical thinker. This supposition is unwise, While political
theorists do try to perside their readers by some sort of
reasoned argument, the requirements of politcal persuasion
and of logie are not always identical. Besides, a thinker of
previous century may not have had the sume notion of logic
that we have.
‘But while the presumption that theorist was using
assumptions beyond those he explicitly formulated cannot be
Certainly establiched, it is still a fairy strong one. Ie would
be surprising if political theorists did always state all their
assumptions cletrly. Two probable reasons for their not
ong £0 are fairly obvious
First, where a writer can take it for granted that his
readets will shate some of his assumptions, he will see no
heed toset these out atthe point in his argument where we,
who do not share those atsumptions automatically, think
‘hey should have heen sated to make the argument complete.
For example, it was a common seeumptin inthe seventeenth
century thatthe labouring clas sa clas apart, scarcely if at
allto be counted a5 part of civil society. We should not be
Justifed in immputing that assumption to a seventeenth=
Century theorist simply on the ground that his conclasion
{foes not follow withost i and dos fllow with it. For i
possible that some other assumption could be found which
fwould produce his conclusion, and that that other assump~
tion ought rather to be imputed. But when an assumption
rot only meets the two conditions (a) that it was common
fnough that a writer could take i for granted in his readers,
tnd (6) that it fills a gap in his argument, but moreover ie
‘mentioned of ured by the writer in some context other than
the one in which we think itis equited, the probability that
he was taking the assumption throughout his argument
becomes too strong to be overlooked. It may well be more
misleading for us to exclude i than to admits We shall be
noticing several instances of assumptions which are quite
‘ssental fo @ theory being mentioned easualy, a if hardly‘worth stating, of revealed incidentally im the course of an
srgument sbout something else
"A second reaton for a theorist’ failure to state an assump-
tion cleaty is that he may not be clearly awateof it. Fr wuld
be strange indeed if a thinker did not sometimes carry over
into his premisses some general assumptions about the
nature of man of of secety, shaped by hs living in his own
society, without being fully aware that he was doing so. No
rman formulates all that is in his minds few formolate all
thst may later be seen tobe relevant to thet problems. What
‘hey leave unformulated may nevertheless pervade their
thinking. The possibilty that such impliie assumptions are
preseat shoud not be overlooked. They should not be in
puted merely on the ground that they scem to be logically
Fequited by the author's argument, ut when such assump-
tions do make sense of the argument (or more sense than can
otherwise be made of i, and are ones that we ean now see
might eeadily have arisen ftom that chnker’s experience of
his own society, and when, moreover, they are repeatedly
implied in various of his incidental arguments, the prob-
ability that he was using such assumptions is saficient to
“entitle ws to admit them,
“There is of course some risk in reading into an author's
work any assumptions he did not clesly state. However
strong the presumption that he was taking some assumptions
for granted, or that he held some without being aware of
them, we cannot be certain that we have got them right. But
itis less risky to make the attempt than eo avoid it on
principle, IF we admitonly assumptions which mect the teste
{hist mentioned, we may a€ least hope to avoid the all-tao-
Frequent course of imputing unconsciously assumptions
Aeanibe sows pp- us) Lace omgeon te bbs of myer
5 Mi ea eh este ai
ce ioe posh oe ae
ecief inten fe rhintod Lak we candy cation oe
Tee op al
‘which we take for granted but which a writer of an earlier
century srould not have done,
‘There may be other reasons, besides che two aleesdy:
noticed, why a thinker has not clearly stated all the assump
tions he is using. He may have deliberately concealed or
isguised some of them, either from fear of offending the
reacts hom he wanted to convert to his canchisions, oF
from fear of persccution, Political theory was a dangerous
trade in the seventeenth century. And even apart from
personal danger, a cautious theorist who had reached an
Intellectual position which was a decisive break with the
received tralition might well think that some subterfuge
‘was needed! to carry hi readers sith him. Explanations of
this rort have been increasingly offered by recent scholars,
especially to account forthe confusions in Locke's theory."
‘The possibilty, and in Locke's cate the probability, of some
measure of concealment of assumption, cannot be neglected,
But it has seemed to me that the concealment hypothesis
cannot, even in Locke's case explain all that has to be ex-
pltined, and that it is an unsatisfactory alternative to the
hypothesis that some social assumptions have been lft im=
perfectly stated, or implicit, for one of the reasons 1 have
Suggested,
‘A general remark may be matte finally about the question
of logical consistency in political theories, My point of
‘Separture in each of the following studies is some real oF
fupposed inconsisteney in a theoretical structure, I have
found i «fruitful hypothesis that each of the thinks in-
tended to be consistent, ar (which comes tothe same thing)
‘was consistent within the limit of his vision, Butt should be
noticed that this is far from being 2 hypothesis that exch of|
the theories is, when properly understood, consistent. Some~
times, indeed, the result has been to show that what appents
to be an incansistency ie not so when we recognize the
by Ls a Nw ih nd ig 9 hsexistencoofanimplictorimperfectlystatedassumption which
bad hitherto been overlooked or not given enough weight,
But more often the result has been to show that she theory
is in some respects strictly inconsistent, even (or especially)
when its implicit assumptions have been given full weight
‘What the analysis achieves then not a resolution of logical
inconsistencies bat an explanation of how the theorist could
Ihave heen unconscious of them.
"The question of consistency isin any case a secondary on.
‘The hypothesis of intended consistency is no more than @
usefel approach. When we find inconsistent postions being
taken in + single sentence (eg, in a Leveller statement that
since al! pozonr have an equitable right to a voice in elec-
tions, therefore the franchise should be given to all men
‘except servants and beggars") we are entitled to ask whether
any assumptions the writer may chen have had in mind can
account for such statements, and se should be unitite not
to Took about for evidence of thee being such assumptions.
‘The presence of apparently clear inconsistency is tobe
treated as a clue to inadequately stated assumptions. The
hypothesis that a thinker was consistent within the limits
‘of his vision is wseful lee asx way of resolving inconssten-
cies chan a pointer to the direction an limits of his vision,
‘which may then be established by other evidence.
1 Jin Hany Th Grand Ds qe os ps.
1
HOBBES: THE POLITICAL OBLIGATION
OF THE MARKET
1 Philosophy ond Pabcal Theory
Hosnssis widely, and rightly, regarded asthe mos formic
able of English political theorists; formidable not because
the is dtfcle to understand but because his doctrine is at
once ao clear, 0 sweeping, and so disliked, His postulates
about the nature of man are unflattering, his politcal conelue
Sions are ilibera, and his logic appears co deny us any way
‘out. But clear as his theory isin comparison with most others,
its unusual breadth and depth has left it open to criticism of
many kinds. It has been attacked repeatedly on theological
philosophical, and pragmatic politeal grounds. Yet it has
Survived, and with added lustre. Direceatack having lefe
it vigorous and perennially fascinating, it has been inter-
preted, resinterprete, and even nowadays completely recon=
Te might seem that nothing more could usefully be sid
‘Yer the interpretations now most widely accepted and most
intluential leave something to be desired. Most of them have
proceeded by breaking up what Hobbes had presented a5 4
fnonolthic structure. Sometimes this his been done to dis
ret the whole theory, but more often to rescue a substan-
tial part of it fom what were thought tobe fatal weaknesses
in other parts. There can be no objection to probing an
apparent monolith, and ifthe probe reveals chat the structure
isnot genuine this act should be recordedand demonstrated.
But a4 often as this has heen done to. Hobbes, the results
have been inconclusive, and it may be doubted whether
the process has furthered the understanding of Hobbes's
theory,The fist wedge was driven in between Hobbes philo-
sophie materialiam and his political theory. Some of the
best-known students of Hobbes have taken the view that
his politcal theory ws not derived from his materialism oF
decisively affected by his concept of science; this view
reached its culmination in the influential study published
by Strauss in. 1936-1 This line of interpretation, however,
lid ot require any very extensive revision of Hobbes's
politcal theory. For while Hobbes had spoken ofthe possi
biliy of deducing his prychological principles (and hence
his polial theory) from the geometrical and physical frst
principles of matter and motion,* he did not in fact wy #0
fake any such deduction, He pointed out thatthe peycho-
logical principles from which politcal science could be
deduced need not themselves he deduced from the laws of
‘motion of material but could be reached directly by sel
‘bscrvation, and thie wae the method he weed,’ Hence to
set aside Hobhes’s materialism is not necessarily to under-
mine his political theory, although 1 shall argc that the
political theory requires the materialism for another reason,
‘Mote recently 4 new wedge has been driven, this time
between Hobbes's psychological principles and his political
theory, and this has had the more far-reaching consequence
of requiring 4 virtual reconstruction ofthe political theory.
‘The new view wae put forward by A. E. Taylor in 19382
Hobier's theory of politcal obligation, & was argued, had
no logically necessary connexion with his propositions about
the psychological nature of man. This view has been widely
accepted, Since its publication, outstanding. students of
Hobbes have tried to construct out of Hobbes's weritngs 3
theory they could regard as logically coherent and a8 being,
what Hobbes really meant, To do so they have had to set
aside Hobbes’ own statements that he was deducing his
‘Pid loopy of Hb Ba aod Grr One 9h
Ee Phy gh Wore et
1 R'E Rg art Borer ties iy 2
political theory from his premises about human nature,
find © find some other basis in Hobbes forthe theory of
tical obligation
Ths Oakeshott, after disemingly remarking that we
should not expect 2 coherence in Hobbes's moral thinking
‘hich 36 foreign to the ideas of any seventeenth-century
titer, and that we should not attempt to create such a
Coherence by extracting some consistent doctrine from his
writings relects, as just such an erroneous extraction, the
theory of political obligation in terms of selEinteest, and
[goes on to offer an interpretation which will give ‘ss com
herent a view as is consistent with ll of what Hobbes actually
‘wrote! This view is thar Hobbos's politcal obligation is 2
Inixture of physical obligation (submission to the superior
farce of the sovereign), rational obligation, which prevents
man from willing an action the probable consequences of|
‘which he rationally perceives to be likely to be harmful ta
Himself (which is Based on self-interest), and moral oblign-
tion, which is crested by the voluntary act of authorizing the
sovereign, and consists of obedience to the commands of
the authorized sovereign (which is not based on see
“This degre of coherence has ot said other scholar
Warrender, sharing the view that Hobbes theory of
political obligation ts uot suficiently based on selE-inteest,
fejects Onkeshott's cautionary admonitions and. constructs
from Hobhes a highly coherent theory of obligation, in
‘hich politcal obligation is moral obligation and x deduced
rot from the postulates about man's nature but from the
will or command of God, or from a body of natural law
hich bears ite own authority This construction has in
then been found unsatisfactory by other erties; its very
"tat pt ny ef ey
{dee tne mek and cities web Note A paghe
PEAS ce AEST onie na
1S SE aay ray te rh
i aeexcellence and thoroughness in developing the implications
of the Taylor thesis has led ta the whole thesis being called
into question."
But if we reject the Taylor thesis and return to the
traditional view that Hobbes was deducing his theory of
political obligation from postulates about human nature
‘hich he held to be self-evident ro any thoughtful observer,
tne are faced again with the old ificulties which the Taylor
thesishad the merit of voiding or resolving, Two dificukes
particularly may be noticed.
Fiest; Hobies's theory of human mature has seemed so
vwnacceptable, at leastas the universal theory Hobbes claimed
it to be, that unless the political theory could be logically
detache from it, the politial theory did not seem to be
worth serious consideration; yet the politcal theory con-
‘Snues to haunt Hobbes’ cites as worth serious considera-
tion, Hobbers theory of human nature is indeed dificult to
accept entire. Apart from the fact that itis apt to arouse
Strong emotional resentment, and «0 to be rejected out oF
hnand, it may he rejected on various reasoned grounds, [ts
mechanical materialism may be held to be untenable. Or ic
ray be rejected empirically ifthe theory of human nature
were valid, then (granting, a8 such critice generally do freely
igant, that Hobbes’ deduction wae good) the political con-
hosions he drew should have been acceptable tothe men for
land sbout whom he was writing, whereas in fact they never
hhave been accepted. Is probably because Habbes's theory
of human nature is considered to be untenable (For one of
fanother of such reasons), while yet his prowess asa thinker
is admired and his conclusions are uneasily felt to have con-
siderable force, that searches are mae for some other bass
for his conclusions about political obligation, But admiration
for Hobbes asa thinker eed not drive us to such lengths,
This diffculty, [shall sugges, can be disposed of without
spoing to the extreme of jettsoning Hobbes's theory of
1 Nob by Sac Howe Je Hath The Tele Tha, Papa
en ih
-naman nature or denying its essential place in his deductive
system, When we see his theory of human nature a8 4
reflection of his insight into the behaviour of men towards
‘ach other in a specific kind of society, we can see why
‘Hobiies thought his propositions abou human nature would
be self-evident ro all honest contemporary abservers once he
had set them out ‘orderly and perspicuously”. We can sce
also that, while his propositions are not universally valid,
they are more nearly valid for his and our time than is
allowed by those who must have all or nothing and who
therefore reject whatever cannot be shown to be universally
valid, Nor is there any difieulty in showing why his propos
tions, in spite oftheir high degree of accuracy and adequacy,
‘were not acceptable to his contemporaries In short, when
Hobbes's univers claims are reduced to an historical
measure, there is no need to divorce his theory of human
fate from his political theory inorder to rescue the laters
both theories are seen to have a specific historical validity,
and to be consistent ith each other.
"A second difieulty with the traditional view is that it
presents Hobbes ae having committed what is now said to
the a grave logical error, namely, as having tried to deduce
‘oral obligation fom empirical postulates of fact, The core
Of his theory of human natute i undoubtedly a series of
postulates of supposed fact, And the political theory is cer-
tainly presented in terms of moral obligation, Ifthe politcal
theory was intended to be strict deduction from the theory
fof human nature, Hobbes is convicted of having deduced
‘what ought to be from shat iy convicted, because iti now
held that itis logically improper ta deduce ought from is
‘Torescue Hobbes fom this postion it has seemed necessary
to detach his theory of obligation from his theory of human
nature and to find some other basi for the former, of else to
deny that his theory of obligation is (as Hobbes thought it
‘was) a moral rather than merely 2 pradential theory of
obligationut here, a with the frst diffeulty, an historical view of.
Hoties’s thought may show us that i is not necessary to
go to such extremes. Why should we impose on Hobbes
logical canons which are post-Hobbesian? Te may be said
that we must stll do so if we are to satisfy ourselves to what
extent his political theory is logically sound and can properly
bbe built upon today. But the rule that obligation cannot be
Seduced from fact ie itself historically questionable. T shall
‘suggest! that when Hobbes's historically conditioned a-
sumptions are given adequate recognition there is some
feason to think that Hobbes had struck through several
layers of philosophical confusion and hit on a relation be-
tween fact and obligation which has as good or better a
logical standing than the modern rue. T shall argue that his
penetrating vision into his own society enabled him to make
4 philosophic leap which, because of the demands society
then made on political philosophy, was not taken up, and
was soon lost sight of. Here, without anticipating the stg-
iment it need only be said that in view ofthe dificulties we
have Seen to be invlved in imponing post- Hobvesian logical
requirements on Hobbes, there is 5 prima frie case for
turing to social and historical considerations when we con
front problems of Hobbes’ logical consistency ot adequacy.
‘We shall pethape be told tha logical and historical ene
Aquiries are each autonomous and that no historia! inter-
pretation, however acceptable, can afect the question of =
heory'sconsisteney and logical adequacy. Tt true enough
that no amownt of historia! evidence or conjecture about an
suthor’s motives or idioeynerasies can be expected to con-
tribute toa judgement of the logical adequacy of his systems
though even that sort of historical inquiry, by deawing
attention tothe parpore for which and the audience to which
he was writing, may save ur from atributing to him philo-
sophical questions he was not atking, and from searching
his work for answers he was not seeking. The sort of
historical interpretation [have in mind, however, is not cot-
cemed with motives. It considers historialy the probable
content of unstated or unclear assumptions that are con
‘ined or necessarily implied in the theory itself. 1 see no
reason to fence this of fom philosophical inquiry, There has
indeed been an increasingly sharp division of labour beeween
{philosophers and poiical theorists in cent years, especially
Eince philosophers have turned to linguistic analysis, This
hha reached the point where it can seriously be proposed by
the most able recent philosophic writer about Hobbes, that
historical considerations are srrlevant to the establishment
of Hobbes's meaning: the problem of how Habbee's theory
originated or hove it to be explained is pot in a separate
compartment from ‘the prior question of what his cheery
151! But to call chis the prior question isto beg the question
Tr may equally well be that one cannot establish what the
theory is without making historieal as well s logical conjec-
tures about Hoblber's unclear or unstated assumptions, In
any cate, it seems worth trying whether an inquiry a once
logical and historical can thtow different light on HTobbes'=
theory, and can bring out essentials ofthat have been left
in the shadows by the prevailing sors of logical analysis,
In the inquiry which follows T start by assuming that
Hobbes was trying to do whit he said he wat doing, ie.
{deducing politiealabligaion from the suppored or abserved
facts of man’s nature. Instead of puting his theory imme=
diately to post-Hobbesian tests of logical consistency in the
ratte of duh ad iad then tying to construct from bis
Uweitings a theory which wil pass the tests or excusing him
fm the ground that no seventeenthecentury thinker should
te put fo such tests, and then making out the best cate one
can for him as a thinker handicapped by the philosophic
shortcomings of his cme, I set aside temporarily che question
ofthese tests and move directly tothe social content of some
of his assumptions,
Tn Section 2 1 show thatthe argument From the physio-
logical ature of man to men’s necessary behaviour towardscach other, from which behaviour the need for a sovereign
follows, i not the simple deduction from physiological postu-
lates that it soften taken to be, but that t & consistent only
with a certain model of society. 1 believe that Hobbes’s
srgument from the physiological fo the social motion of man
fs often seen lees clearly than it might be Because it is wsually
taken 36 culminating in the hypotheticd state of nature,
‘which isl? is often not clearly understood. 1 therefore pro-
ceed by trying to put the sate of nature in focus, fest by
Showing that itis about socal, not natural men, and then
by showing that isin any eave not the culminating point
‘of the argument from physiology tothe behaviour of men
towards exch other, but that before Hobbes uses the state
fof mature hypothesis at all he has developed a theory ofthe
hecesary relations of men dn every (which is Inter repto-
‘duced with vasiations in the state of nature hypothesis) 1
then show that bis theory ofthe necessary relations of men
in society requires the assumption of a certain kind of society
“The question, hove fr bck in his argument fram the pipsio-
logieal to the social mation of man he put the necessary
socal assumptions sless important than the other question,
with whit kind of society isthe social motion at which he
srrives consistent? Both questions, however, are worth
‘consideration. The frst admits of more than one answer, de
pending on one's reading of rome possibly inconsistent state
iments by Hobbes about what is innate and what is acquired
in man’s nature. This dificuly is noticed, and the reasons
for preferring one reading are given. The second question is
then shown to admit of only one answer om either reading
fof the passages relevant tothe frst question.
Having thus shown thst Hobbes theory of the social
motion of man requites the assumption of «certain kind of
society, I examine (im Section 3) same models of society, in
trder to demonstrate more precisely what Kind of society is
required. | argue that Hobibes did more or less consciously
Construct such a model, and that the model did correspond
in Tange measure to seventeenth-century English society.
“The cognition of Hobbes's social assumptions, and of the
consequent completeness of his deduction of men's need for
sovereign, does not in itself dispose of the philosophic
(question whether the political obligation whose necessity
Hobbes has thus demonstrated is properly moral obligation
for merely expedient and prudential abligation, but it docs
pu that question in a diferent perspective
then argue, in Section 4, that, the light of Hobbes’s
assumptions, his deduction of obligation from fact must be
Slowed a logical validity as well a= striking novelty. Iti
frgued that because of the assumption he made about the
nature of society, which he saw as a series of competitive
relations between naturally dissociated and independently
elfsmoving individuals, with no natural order of sborlina-
tion, he was able to deduce moral obligation from the
supposed facts, without importing hierarchical moral values
tor teleological principles; that his materialism was an in-
tegral part of that deduction; and that the deduction of
obligation directly from the suppored facts about the mature
fof man and the necessary relations between men is not
logical in principle but requires conditions which were not
cleitly sitished before Hobbes time
Tn Section g 1 conclude, from reconsideration of
Hobbes's originality, and of the reatons for his doctrine
boeing so generally unacceptable, that he was much less in
error and that his theory fas a much grester relevance t0|
modern society, than is uevally allowed
2. Haman Nature and the State of Natare
i, Aaeraton from eens
Ie is commonly said or assumed, by those who tke the
traitional view of Hobbes, that hie psychological proposi=
tions ae about man as such, man completely abstracted from
ciety, and that those propositions cantin all that is needed
for his decuction of the ncessity ofthe sovercgn state, Butthere isa serous oversimlicaton in this view. If by his
paychologial propositions we mean those properons about
felts, imaginadon, memory, reason, appetite and aversion,
in which Hobbes describes the human being sa ayster of
sclfmoving, self-guided matter in motion (ve the propos
tions with which Hobbes opens the argument of Leviathen,
andvwhich ght besaid tobe about man a auch, completely
Shetracted from sclty, then "Hlobbe'spoychologia
propositions donot contain ll that i newded forthe doc
tion ofthe necessity ofthe sovereign state Ion the other
hand we use the term peychologial proposons to include
Hiobbers statement of the necesary Sehaviour of men
towards each other n any society (ie tha all men sek ever,
snore power over others) or he sia satement of thir
Cehaviour inthe bypothetel absence of any society (hein
the state of nature then the paycolopical propositions do
contain all hats needed forthe deduction of the necesity
of sovereign, but they ae not about the human animal 38
fuck; some serumptions about the beheviur of men in
Crilzed society had to be added. You can move from the
“iver struggle for power in society, or from the sate of
ature, to the necenty ofthe soversign without further
‘Seumtions, but you canoet move from man asa mechanical
System tothe univeralsrugale for pomer, ort the re
of mitre, without futher assumpdions. And the further
Sssumptions ar, shall ange, tenable only about the rela
tione prevailing between en ns certain kind of society,
though Hobbes assumed they were universally valid Thi
je an unfamiliar view of Hobbes and roquires further ex:
pansion
Pe call develop it in two ways I shall how fest (in Section
an i) that Hobe’ state of ature o natural condition of
mankind not about ‘natura man as opposed to cilived
Iman but about men whose desires are specially vilied
that the state of nature the bypothetieal condition in which
ten at they now are with tatarer formed by living in
civilized soctey, would necesarly Bd themselves if there
were no common power able to overawe them all. The
tridence for this is contained in Hobhes's description of the
Sate of nature
Seconily, I shall examine (in Section 2, ii) the chain of
deduction from the beginning, and show that the psycho-
logical analysis, which begins (ar appears co begin) 25 a"
analysis of the nature of men in complete abstraction from
Society, soon becomes an analysis of men in established social
telationships; that certain social aceumptions have to be
made in order to establish that ll men in society sck over
more power over athers (and even to establish the behaviour
‘of men in the hypothetical state of nature and hence to
cxtablish the necessity of the sovereign and (in Section 3)
that the necessary social assumptions are valid only for a
specific kind of society.
ii, The wate of nature
In all three of Hobbes's constructions of his political
theory! the step immediately preceding the demonstration
‘of the need for «sovereign able to overawe every individual
isthe state of nature, or natural condition of mankind. The
state of natute depicts the way in which men, being what
they are, would necessarily behave f there were no authority
to enforce ln or contact, Given the appettive and delivers: |
tive nature of man (which in the Elemens and in Leviathan
is set out in the earlier chapters, and which inthe Raiment
is disclosed by 2 swift analysis of men's behaviour in con-
temporary society) this i the way they would necessarily
behave if law-enforcement and contract-enforcement were
entirely removed. Thie behaviour would necessarily be an
incessant struggle of every man with every man, a struggle
of cach for power over others. Hobbes's point, of course, i
to show that chs condition mould necessarily thwart every
man’s desire for ‘commaions living’ and for avoidance of
iolent death, that therefore cvery reasonable man should do
‘whatever must be done to guard against this condition, and‘that nothing short of every man acknowledging an absolute
sovereign power is sufficient to guard against
Hobbes's sate of nature, as is generally recopeized, is a
logical not an historical hypothesis Ie an “Inference, made
from the Passions’; it describes what manner of life there
would be, where there were no common Power to fare
Hobbes dit not argue thatthe existing imperfectly sovereiga
state had originated by agreement between men who had
previously been in an actual sate of nature. On the conteary,
' fe believed that a stae of nature never di generally prevail
ver al the worl (though he thought a Clse approxima
thon to existed among "the sage people i many places
(of mericsys and he was clea that mort existing Sovereign
States had fad thee origin notin compact but in conquest
Chere is scarce a Common-wealth in the world, whose be-
innings ean in conscience be justified!) Nor did he argue
that a perfec or completly sovereign sate could be extab-
lished only by agreement between men who were om an
actual sae of nature. He could not very well argue that,
For his whole purpote in weiting was to persuade men who
nov lived in imperfectly sovereign states (i.e. by definition,
hot in a state of nature) that they could and should acknom=
ledge a complete obligation to 4 sovereign, and so should
move themselves into a perfecdy sovereign state. What he
| could, and id, argue waa that to havea completely sovereign
State men must act af they had moved out of a state-of
J nature by azreement.
The requisite sovercign power might come into existence
in either of two ways: by some man or body of men conquer-
ing and subduing the inhabitants (overeigary by acquisic
tion) of by men agresing by contract with cach other to
transfer all their natural powers to some man oF body of
ren (covercignty by inwitution).* It made no diference
‘which way the sovereignty was established, as long a8 the
‘eatin 0
3 Eh Svat hc
sovercignty was acknowledged by’ all the citizens. It was
‘cnough if they acknowledged ade faci euler or ruling asem-
{ly and gave toi the fll measure of obedience they would
logically be obliged o give if they had voluntarily transferred
to it the natural rights which they would have had in the
hypothetical state of nature, In other words all that js
netessary is that they should act as if they had transferred
their natural rights to a sovercign which they could have
tetablished by covenant with each other if they had ever
lived in a state of nature
‘When Hobbes comes to deduce the necessary rights of
the sovercign and obligation of the subjects, he nds it con-
venient to speak of the covenant as an agreement actually
rade, oF tobe made, ata given poine in time. By doing so,
he avoids having to put his argument continually in condi.
tional terms, Instead ofthe awkwardness ofsaying repeatedly
“if mon had made rach » covenant it wosld follow that.”
he able to my, throughout chapter (8 of Leviashon, "be-
cause they have covenaited, it follows that... Yet before
he does this he is careful to say that no such covenant need
actully be made in order to establish the requisite sovereign
power, The sovereign by acquisition has the same rights
(and his subjects the same obligations), asthe sovereign by
“Hobbes state of nature is, then, a logical hypothesis. The
fact that the state of nature isa logical and not an historical
hypothesis is generally understood, and ie would scarcely
‘have required attention here had ie not apparently led some:
times to's fake inference. It seems often tbe assumed that,
since the state of nature was not an historical hypothesis it
‘ust have been a logical hypothesis reaches by seting aside
completely the historically acquired chaructristics of men,
If inwas not about primitive men it must have been about
ratural as contrasted with civilized men. But this does not
fellow. The state of nature was for Hobbes + condition
logically price ta che establishment of a perfect (ie. com-
pletely sovereign) civil society; what he deduced from thestate of nature was the need for men to acknowledge the
perfectly sovereign state instead ofthe imperfectly sovereign
fates they now had. Hle was therefore able to deaw on his
“understanding ofthe historically acquired nature of men in
existing civil societies in order to get his deductions about
the state of nature. His “inference made from the passions”
could be made from the passions of existing men, passions
Shaped by civilized living, His inferences were So made
His state of nature is a statement ofthe behaviout to which
men as they now are men who live in civilized societies and
have the desires of eivilized men, would be led ill law and
contract enforcement (je. even the present imperfect en-
forcement) were removed, To get the state of nature
Hobbes has set aside law, but not the socially acquired be:
haviour and desires of men
‘The reason why this # 50 generally overlooked is I think,
that Hobbes's model of saci, mhick he developed before he
introduced the hypothetical state of nature, was itself almost
ts fragmented af his state of nature, His model of society
contained 4 similar incessant competitive struggle of each
for power over others, though within a framework of law
and’ order. The behaviour of men in Hobbes's model of
Society! is, so to speak, to anti-coia, that when he carries
this behaviour into hie hypothetical state of nature, itis
there essly mistaken for a statement of the behaviour of
rnon-social men. But itis statement of the behaviour of
socal civilized men. That this sso cam be seen in a number
of mays
‘The most evident indication, though not i itself deci-
sive one, is that Hobbes offers, a5 3 confirmation of the
‘natural’ tendency of men to invade and destroy cach other,
the observable behaviour of men in present civil society
Temayssem strange to some maa, tht hes at well weighed these
‘hinge hat Nature thould hos [ie ar inehe wate nature disc,
tnd ender men apt t invade, and toy ove anothers and he may
hereto, ne tating tthe Tnferencey made from the Passos,
dire perhaps to have the same confimed by Expense. Let him
‘ertore consider with hima, when taking > Journey, he armas
Dimele and sesks to go well accompanies shen going 0 ley Be
Tock is ores when even in is howe he locks his chests and hie
thes he kore there bee Lawes ard pubike Ofer, armed, 10
ewe all injures shall toe done hin hat opinion he ha of it
{low bjt when he rises armed of hi ellow Chizens, when he
Jocks is does ad of his chen and Sera when be Locks his
hes!
And again, immediately after saying that a state of nature
never generally existed
Howsover it may beperdved what manne fe dere woul be,
where there were no commen Powe o far; by the manner of lie
thick men thee have formerly ied under» peacfll government
taeo degenerate int in cell Ware?
‘The ‘natura’ behaviour of men, the behaviour to which they
are necessarily led by thei passions, can be seen, approx
‘mated at leas, inthe behaviour of civilized men who live
Under civil government, and of civilized men who, having
lived under civil government, find themselves in evil war
And the reason that this observable behaviour of civilized
ren confirms the “inference mate fram the pasions' is that
the inference was From the passions of civilized men
"A more decisive evidence that the state of nature ie a
statement of the behaviour to which specifically civilized
sen would be led if even the present imperfect sovereign,
were removed, is that the full state of mature is in face
reached by soceessive degrees of abstraction from civilized
society. This is often lost sight of. Hobbes’ picture of the
{ull sate of natute i clearly the negation of civilized soci
to industry, no culeure of the earth, no navigation, no come
odious building, no arts, no letters, no society, ‘and the ite
of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short. The pic-
ture isso imprestve that we are apt to forget haw Hoboes
‘demonstrates ite necessity, He deduces t from the appetites
Levin ch 1, ER AP ;of men who are civilized in that they desire not merely ¢a
live butt live well or commadiousy. OF the three principal
‘eases of quarrel” that Hobbes ings ‘in the nature of many
which together would put men into this brutish state of
hature, if there were no power able to overawe them, the
first two (Competition and Difidence) arise out of men’s
esi olive well
Tes the man who would ‘plant, sow, build, possesse a
convenient Seat” who must expect to be invaded and die
possessed by others seeking to enjoy the fruits of his labour
(Gehich invasion isthe substance of the ‘competition’ Hobbies
sees in the state of nature), And it is the holder of such
caltivated land and convenient buildings who becomes fare
ful or difident and must seek to secure himself by subduing
a6 many of his potential invaders st posible, that is, "by
force, of wiles, to master the persons of all men he ean, so
Tong tll he sce no other power great enough to endang
him’, Even the man that otherwise would be glad to be at
fase within modest hounds! must increae his power by n=
trading others if he is to have a chance of resisting the
invasion of others. In short, the matter about which competi-
tion and difidence would lead to war ofeach with ally is
the civilized matter of cultivated land and ‘convenient seats
Even the third cause of quarrel (which Hobbes calls
Slory) is more typical of men whose sale of values has been
scquired by living in civilized society than of “natural” men
is that
very man ooketh hat companion shoud value hiny the same
Intehesets pon mele: Ar yponal sige of contempt under
“hing arly endeavour as ara dre (which amongst chem
‘hat hve no common power to Keep them in git if nouEh 10
take them desroy ath oer) to exrt 3 peter vale fem his
Comer, by mages and rom oer bythe example?
All cree of the causes of quarrel are presented as factors
operating in any kind af society, but becoming destructive
cea aed
coply then cher is no common power to hold them in check
Competition, difidence, and glory, far from being charac
teristic only of the brutish state of nature, are the factors in
present civil society which would cura civil society into that
frutish condition i there were no common poster. Compet-
tion, difence, and glory are ‘natural dispositions of men
Jn iil society. ‘Natural’ for Hobbes is not the opposite of|
social or civil "The naturall condition of mankind’ covers
the whole chapter in Leviathen in which Hobbes moves
fram the present dispositions of men to the brutish condi-
tion, The natural condition of mankind is within men now,
hot set apart in some distant time or place,
the term state of nature’ were not 20 firmly entrenched
in the Iterature about Hobbes ie would be helpful to discard
it entirely and keep to such another term a5 "the natural
Condition of mankind’, which is more readily seen to be
something within men. Hobbes himself rarely used “state
of mature’. In the Elemente his chapter is entitled “OF the
Condition of men in mere nature’. It opens with the state-
iment that, having previously described the whole of man’s
ratural powers of hody and mind, he will now ‘consider in
that estate of security this our nature hath placed us’, and
he proceeds to describe the natural” conditidn of men in all
sircumstances ie. their natural equality, vanity, and appe-
fites, without using any particular phrase For this condition,
ether shows chat this would necessarily les tothe brutish
condition if common power were absent, and uses “state
fof war’ to describe that concition. Similarly, in Levéarhon
hhe uses ‘the natural condition of mankind? for his chapter
tiles opens with = diseuesion of the natural condition of men
in all circumstances (their natural equality, competition,
dlifidence, and vanity), by which he Binds ‘in the nature of
Iman” the chee causes of quarrel, without sing any particu
lar phrase fr cis condition; then shows tha if men have no
common power over them they must be isthe brutish conde
tion, which he eas the ‘time or condition of wirIn both these treatments, where he avoids state of nature’,
and especially in Leviarha, i's posible to distinguish be-
tween the natural condition of tan (ue. the condition in
which men are or tend to be in all circumstances, in or outof
Cul society, because of their natores and the state of War
(je. the condition that would follow if there were no com-
mon power, or which does follow ifthe common power js
removed by hypothesis) In the Radimen, however, where
he does use "state of nature’? he uses it indiferetly 10
dleseribe both conditions, and the distinction between ther
is lore. And because this cistinction is lost, the hypothetical
character of the state of war (whichis maintained, though
precitiouly, in the Elemente and Levtarhen) is lost in the
Ruciments, where the state of nature, identified with the
state of wa, is sid to have been “the natural state of men,
before they entered into society’*
‘Yer there can be litle doubt thae in the Ration, ain
the other two works, the state of nature i «logial astrac-
tion drawn from the behaviour of men in civilized society
Indeed itis even clearer in the Radiment than in the other
too treatments that Hobbes has got atthe ‘natura proclvi=
ties of men by looking just below the surface of contem-
porary society, and that the sate of mature is 2 twostage
logieal abstraction in which man’s natural proclivities are
first disengaged from their civil setting and then cartied to
their logical conclusion im the state of war. For the Radi
mmont, omitting the whole physio-psychological analysis of
fan isa system of matter in motion, opens with a brilliant
dissection of men’s behaviour in contemporary society,
which reveals their ‘natural’ procivties, and moves directly
to the deduction of the necessary outcome in a state of war
if there were no sovereign
Hos by wht adic, men do meet willbe bast owes by serving
‘hore ting eich they do when they ace mee For f they meet for
‘rai, pin every man regs oe hs llow, bt his Busnes
to dstargesome ofce a cetn marke-ienisip is bepotten which
Tesh more of jelusy i than tru lovey and whence factors some
‘Spex ay ares bar good wll reves if for plesste, and rection of
‘ind eve mais wont please self mest wh thn ings which
Sep laughter, whence hemay (acoring tothe ate of th hich
ie idulous) by comprion of another mas defers ad india,
us the sore current in is own oiton; al although thi Be sme
ties innocent and without otece, yeh anit ty a nt 50
ck Siphted with he soc, a hei own vain por. But for he
tow par thse Kinds of meeings we wound the aber thei
Intl if tying, ations are amine, judged comme nay i
Every rat bse pent esis ing Before they par so ashi
‘eas wasotily who wa wont always at pring gout st. And
these relinieed the true delghs of sce, unto which we are cated
Synth by dose pasion which re incden toa reatues
So clear isi by experience to all men wh aide move nately
Sesider human afsi tat all fee cones aheth ether fom
ttl poverty oom vain lay, whence the paris met endesour
teary with them eter se Beefy orto lve Bebind thern that
tine eifoycv sneer and honor wit thse, wth whom hey
five teen conversant. The same tal colected by reas at of he
‘fnion themselves, of wil god, honour potable?
“The nature of man is thus got primarily from observation of
contemporary society, and ineidentally Confirmed by examin-
ing definitions.
‘tis from this analysis of the nature of man in society that
Hobbes deduces the necessary tendency towards a state of
war. He deduces it by temporarily setting aside fear ie. fear
both of a sovereign and of other individuals. Take men as
they tow ate, remove the fest of unpleasant of fatal con-
sequences of their actions to themselves, and their present
ratural proclvities would lead directly to the state of war
‘The dissection of men's behaviour in present society shows
that all society ‘is ether for gain, or fer glory; that i, not so
uch for love of eur fellows, as for the love of ourselves
Since gain and glory ‘may be better attained to by dominion,than by the society of thes: I hope nobody will doubt but
that men would much more geetiy be eatied by matre
if al fee were removel, to obtain dominion, than to gain
“Thus iby hypothe one removes all fa (far both ofa
sovereign and of ater indvitas) the ful sate of ature
{the stat of war) flows, But the fll state of nature ts
Condition n which fen of other individuals must be omic
presen, Bring back into consideration, therefore the fn
thr indviuals (whichis in fae never sent) an this
fear shown to bebeightened bythe absence ofa wovereign,
I fllows thatthe fll sate of ature ar wate of war cone
dicts man's lesirove and fel wate ‘And wt happen
that through fear of eachother we think it tori ourelves
of this comiiton and to get some Flows by sting up or
SSknowicdgings sovereign able to protect uss
“Thus inthe Redimeus the sate of wa is hypothetical
condition, gt by purely logical aeration. Yt calling
this hypehetiel condition the state of nature” Hobbes
Inake fay to mitead either ae 4 condition hstoscaly
frie to cv society or asa hypotnetalcondion deduced
Flom men's‘ntualcharacteriic considered ently apart,
from ther socalyacquzed characters
“The rouble with Hobbes concet af stat of nature i
that it tends to telescope two diferent coniton: the condi-
tion of anpathy and Competition in eich men are suo
find themselves lthe cme beenaeo thir natures andthe
Etish condition of war The likelihood of tis telesoping
appears tobe greater when the tem sate of mare used
{Grin the Racin) than when is avided, but the tee
Scoping neve entely abot However, by boing steadily
tothe act thatthe men ho woul fll into the state of ar
iPehere were no common power are ciiaed men, with Gh
lined oars for convenient ving and eivived tastes fer
fecling supeio, we an avid the ero of treating Hobbes
Sete of mitre sean analyser of primitive man or of
san considered apart from all his socially acquire charsc-
(SA third demonstration that Hobbes's state of mature does
not at aside contemporary man’s soil sired charse-
{istics but simply law. and contracr-enforezment, or fear
cfs sovercign (and, temporarily, au we have just sn in the
‘Radimons, fear of eter ndvideals),s provided by noticing
trhat its that Hobbed's man woold lal, and would com
felingly fea the Tack of, in the Ful rich state of nature
Wat he would lack is prcily all the goods of cvlized
living: propery, industry, commerce the sciences at, and
lester, st well s secur for his ife. To be without theve
goods contrary to man's nature. Its because of the lack
thee goods that Hobbes's natural man is driven to seck
fy out ofthe state of nature, "The Passions that enclne
[natural] men to Peace, are Feare of Death; Desire of sich
things state necesary to commodious living; and a Hope
by their Industry to obexin them." The passion for com=
radios living rs pasion of Hobbes: naira man. Natural
tani civilized man with only the restruint of law removed,
Si, From phuilogical wo etal motion
‘We have seen that Hobbes's state of nature is a descrip-
tion neither of the necessary behaviour of primitive men
(hough primitive men approximate to it more nearly than
So men under established cil governments) nor of the
necessary behaviour of the human animal stripped of all his
socially acquired appetites, The state of mature ia deduction
from the appetites and other Faculties not of man as such but
of civilized men
We now turn to examine Hobbes's chain of deduction
from the beginning. The physiological and. peychological
snalysis of che nature of man with which Hobbes opens the
‘whole deductive argument in the Elomovis and in Leviathan
begins as an analysis of the nature or motion of man con-sidered apart from established soil eatonships Ti, of
appears tobe, about man at such, nt about civilised man
Yersince by the time the argument reaches the hypoetcal
stite of nature #8 about civiied many the question i,
there di civilization ge into the argument?
‘The question might be thought to be unnecessary, since
in a seme civilization was always there, Hobbes tls os
himself thet the paychological analysis & of contemporary
‘an: whoroeverooketh into himself, al consireth what
he doth, when he does shine, oping reason, hop, fore, By
tnd upon what grounds; he shall thereby read and know,
‘what are the thoughts, and Passions of all other men, upon
the like occasions andthe reader of Leviathon i inte to
confirm Hobbes reading of man with no more pains than
“onely to conse fhe alo find not the same in himsel.
For ths kind of Doctrine, admiterh no other Demonte
tion And indeed che presumpion stat twas the natore
of cvlzed man that Hobbes was analysing From the Begine
ning. For the resolutive-compositve method which he s0
“Minired in Galileo and which he took over? was to resolve
sing sciety into simplest elements snd then recom:
| pore those clement into. logis! whole. The reslving,
{ therfore, was of existing society into exiting individu,
| and of them i turn into the primacy elements of their
motion. Hobbes dos not ake us through the reaaltve part
{this thought, but starts us with the result ofthat an taken
ts through only the comportve part The order of hi
‘houghtwasfrom man in society back to man a a mechanical
system of mater in motion, and only then forward aguin ©
‘man’s necessary socal behaviout. Buti is only the second
hal of this that he presents to his readers, And Because he
begins his presentation (in Leviathow and in the Elements)
‘sith the plsilogeal an! paychologial analysis of man at
{sytem af matter in motion the eeaer i pe forge that
1 SOURIS OR al pw. ani ory ad Pai i
ise Ppa dary oa rit oes
r
the whole construction had its source in Hobbes thinking
bout civilized men.
In spite of thie, ie & stil necessary to inquire where cvi-
lization got into Hoobbes's construction. For nthe reslutive-
composiive method the resolutive stage proceeds not
inerely by breaking the phenomenon down into its simplest
slements, but doing this with a considersble amount of
tbstrction, In that abstraction, something of the complex
whole (inthis ease society and the nature of civilized tas)
imay be set aside. And Hobbes has, or at last appears to
have, set aside the specifically civilized characteristics of man
in hisopening presentation of the nature of man. So we must
inquire how and where these go ita his compositive stage.
‘Theinquiry is lese needed in the Rudiments for there Hobbes
roves straight from his glimpse into contemporary society
to the construction of the state of nature, without going at
all inco that higher degree of abstraction which comprises
the inital psychological analysis in the Blomente and Levis
than.
“The man whom Hobbes presents in the opening chapters
cof Leviarhon should be more readily intelligible to us than
to Hobloes's contemporaries, for that man is very like an
automated machine. Tt is not only selfmoving but self
ireting, Ie hs, built into it equipment by which alters is
mation in response to diferences inthe materi it vses, and
to the impact and even the expected impact of other matter
‘on it, The frst five chapters of Leviathan describe the items
of this equipment: the senses, which receive the pressures of
‘utsice bodies, transmit them through the nerves tothe brain
and heart, which then deliver a counter-pressure; the imagi-
nation, oF memory, which ean recall past sense impressions
and store up experience of them; the mechanism of rayne
fof Thoughts’ or ‘Trayne of Imaginations, which hunts
“the causes, of some eect, present or past; or». the effects,
of some present or past cause," and which thos enables the
mechanism to forecst the probable result of various possibleactions it might take; language, which enables the machine
to communicate and receive communications and to onder
its own reckonings; and reason, which by adding snd sub
tracting mames and the consequences of names can reach
{general propositions or rules for its own guidance.
Chapter 6 of Leviathar introduces the general direction
‘or goal that is built in to the machine. The machine seeks €0
Continue its own motion, Te does this by moving towards
things which it calculates are conducive to its continved
motion and away from things not conducive, Motion to-
wards is called appetite or desire, motion away from
‘alle aversion, A few of the appetites and aversion a8 for
food, are builtin to the machine, but most are acquired by
"Experience, and tral of their effects upon themselves, of
‘other men’! The acquired appetites and aversions are not
always forthe same things: they difer as between different
‘machines (because they have diferent experiences), and
‘within one machine at different times (because each one “is
in continuall mutation’) Whatever is the object of any
machine's appetite i registers as good, and the objects of te
aversion, el: Each therefore seeks its own good and shuns
itsown evi.
All the states of mind and general dispositions of men,
such as hope, despsin, fear, courage, anger, confidence,
Uifidence, covetousness of riches, ambition for office or pre~
cedence,pusllanimity, magnanimty, love, jealousy, revenge-
fulness grief pity, emulation, and envy, can be reduced to
the action of the appetite for one's own good in various
Aliferentcireumnstances
‘Every man's actions are determined by his appetites anc
versions or rather by his calculation of the probable effets
fn the satisfaction of his appetites, of any action he mighe
tke
When inthe mind of man, Appetite and Aversion Hopes and
eaten concerning one an the sume things ste akenatly aed
paneer
divers oo and vl comeguenes ofthe ding of omiting the thing
rounded, come wieeniel into our thoughts 0 that sometimes
swehavean Appete it sometinesan Aversion Frm it Sometimes
eget alle to doy sometimes Depie o Fret tet
the whole imme of Deiten Aversion Hoper and Pang continued
the thing Be eter dey or though impose, that we call
Dessenarion!
All voluntary actions are determined by thie process of
Selberation. "For a Voluntary Acris that Which proceedeth
from the Will, and no other.” And Wil ir the lit Appetite
in Deliberating’* Finally, because Life elf but Motion,
snd can never be without Desire, nor without Reare, no
‘more than without Sense’, cach man must seek continual
‘Success obtaining those things which he from ime ta time
Aesies and wil esie.t
‘Now in the whole of Hobbes's analysis so far, the only
mention ofthe relation of one ofthese selémoving machines
others of them has been in the analysis of states of ming
for general dispositions of men. Some ofthese (eg. indigna-
tion, charity, covetousness, ambition, fortitude, liberality,
jealousy, revengefulness, pity, cruelty, emulation, envy)
Hobbes does explain se relations between men of as ofects
of relations between them. But the analysis of thse stats of|
tind is incidental tothe main line of is deduction Te shows,
how a wide range of observable characteristics of men can
be explained in terme of Hlobbes's postulate that men ace
self-moving and selfireting appetite machines, but this
is rather an incidental confirmation of che original postulate
than a sage in the main deduction from the nature of the
mechanism to the necessary tendency of struggle of every
fan with every man
‘The nest propositions that sre significant in the main
deduction are in chapter § where in discussing intellectual
virtues Hobbes makes two general statements from observae
tion, one concerning the relations between men, and one‘concerning the differences between the passions of diferent
men, The frst is that men value everything by comparison
swith what others have: ‘Vertue generally, in all sorts of
subjects, ix somewhat that is valued for eminence; and con=
Sisteth in comparison. For if all things were equally in all
ren, nothing would te prized."' The second i that the
Giference between different men's wit (ie. their ability 10
‘deal intelligently with the problems that confront ther) is
‘ue chiety tothe diferent degree oftheir ‘Desire of Power,
of Riches, of Knowledge, and of Honour’. Some men have
“no great Passion for any of these things’, some men have,
and the diference of passions proceeds "nat only from the
difference of mens complexions; but also from their difer-
fenoe of eustomes, and education?
Te ie not until ehapter to, however, that Hobbes begins
his serious alysis of the relations’ between these sl
moving machines, and chapters ro and rt say almost all
that Hobbes has to say about those relations. We have to
notice that chapters 10 and 11 are about the relations be-
tarcen civilized men living in established societies, an that
‘these two chapters contain all or all but on, of the essential
propositions from which Hobbes deduces in chapter 1 the
ecesity of war of every man sptinst every man fa common
power were removed, The only relevant necessary propos
fiom not stated until chapter 13 isthe natural equality of
men, which is needed to show that the sate of war could
never end by any one man’s vitory over the rest
Tn shor, it in ehapters 10 and 11 hat we find the main
transition from man the machine by itself, to man the
‘machine asa unit ina series of social relationships, And iti
in these chapters that we shall expect to find such nev postu
lates, stated oF implied, as are needed for the deduction of
the state of nature, and that we can sc to what extent those
postulates are drawn from the observed relations of men in
2 specific kindof society.
5 kari
‘The ground traversed in chapters 10 and 11 i substan-
tialy that beeween the neutral definition of power with
thigh chapter ro opens (Te Powsn of « Man, (co take it
Universally.) is is present means, to obtain some future
apparent Good’), and the conclusion early in chapter 11:
"So that in the frst place, I put fora general inclination of
all mankind, a perpetuall and restlesse desire of Power after
power, that ceasethonely in Death’,*powernow being power |
‘ver other men. It is this canchision which leads directly t0
the state of war of chapter 43, when all political authority
and law-enforcement are removed by hypothesis, The ques
tion is how Hobbes moves from the neutral definition of
power tothe desir of every man for ever mote power over
bther men
In Leviathon, immediately after the neutral definition of.
power, he classifies power as either original (or natural) or
flee instrumental, and assets:
onwa Puss the eminence ofthe Faculties of Body, Ming
ssexraowlinary Suengt, Fume, Prasence, At Eoquer, Lierae
lity, Nob. natant ae tone Powers wich cid by these,
ry fortune, are means an Tosramens to acquire more: a Riches
Repeat, Friend andthe secret working of God which men ell
Good Luck. Forth atuse of Powis inthis poi, ke 10 Fame,
increasing a proven ike the ooion of heavy bode, which
the order they 2 make sil dhe more bast
‘Wenotice that a man's natural power i defined not ashi
natural abikty (Strength, prudence, &e.) but ab the emi)
of his ability. It isthe eminence of his ability over That of
others that enables him to acquire instrumental powers
Ciehes, reputation, friends, &e,). A man's power is not an
Absolute but a comparative quantity. I doesnot, as might be |
thought to have been implied in the firs oF neutral definition
of power, consist of a man’s personal capacities plus any
further command over things that he can acquire by exer
ising those capacities it consists of the excess of his per=
Sonal capacities over those af other men, plus what can |1 HOBBES: POLITICAL OBLIGATION OF THE MARKET
scquire by that excess. A new postulate is implied in this
redefinition of power, namely, that the capacity ofevery man
{ro get what he wants is opposed by the capacity of every
‘other man, This postulate is made explicitly inthe parallel
passage in the Element. There, the power of a man to get
Something he wants is frst defined se
the fcuk of body and mind (and) euch father power by them
re acquired vn riches, lace of authori, iendehip or favour and
food fortune: (This slowed by the satement:] And Because the
power of tan resiteth and Rinderth the eet of the power of
nother; power snp sno mare, ba the ences ofthe power of one
Shove tht of another For ual powers opponed destroy one sre,
fn such eet opposition called conention
Every man’s power is opposed by the power of others, 30
suniverilly that "power simply’ can be fedefined s= 4 com-
parative not an absolute quantity, This postulate of the
opposition of individuals powers is new itis not contained
in the previous propositions about man as a selemoving
‘mechanism seeking to maintain or enhance his motion.*
If there were any doubt about the university of the
opposition of posers which Hobbes is stating in that post
Inte # would be removed by his discussion of varios specif
kinds of power in society, and his analyst of valuing and
honouring, which follow these definitions of power both in
Leviathan and inthe Elem, In Leviathan, the reason why
such things a5 wealth and reputation are power is that they
tgive defensive and offensive strength ageint others, Thus
Riches oped orth ibeaity, is Powers becaue i pocireth
Ariens ant servants: Without erly noe sos bose th ce
they defend nots but expo mento Enna Prey. Reputtion of
power Powers because i draweth withthe adherence of those
har neod protection.» ley what quality roever maketh x man
Beloved of feaed of many a the reputation of such quality Power,
Because tba mest have theasssanc, and sevice of may?
[All the kinds of acquired power that Hobbes describes
Consist in defensive and offensive strength against others.
‘Anda of thera consis in command over some of fhe powers
father men; they areall the product of the tansfer of some
men's powers to other men. Hobbes has in effect defined
equited power as ability to command the services of other
men. A man’s power over nature, his ability to wansform
rature by iis own strength, intelligence, and knowledge is
apparently put under the’ head of his original, not his
sczuired, power. The power of men associated to transform
ature is neglected.
Hobbes's analysis of valuing and honouring, which fol.
lows the description ofthe kins of power, lls out his picture
of the relations of men in society. Transfers of power are
Ssesumed to be so vsual that there is = market in power. A
‘man's power is treated as a commodity, regular dealings in
Which establish market prices
‘The Fata Woxvs of may isa ofall ater things i Prices
Ya iso sy 60 much as would he given forthe ue of his Power
a therefore 5 nt absolute, but hing depart on the ned nd
Jilgement of snochr And asin other things in ey ot he
fel, bu the bayer determines the Prise: Fo les man as most men
fa tate theoseves atthe highest Value they eany yr thet tee
‘Value sno more thea it iseteemed by thers
The value men set on one another, in comparison with
the value each sets on himself is measured by the degree to
which each is honoured or dishonoured by others, as shown
by the postive or negative amount of deference accorded to
him in various ways
“The manifestation ofthe Vale we se on one anather is tht which
+ commonly called Honouring, ant Dishorourng. To Vale a ma
tea high ats» Honor hin, alow ete to Dishonce hr,
But high, slow in this Cet vo be urderstood by compan fo
‘he ate that each man sereth on ims?
‘The degree of honour accorded to 4 man this measures
his actual value in comparison with the value he sets onhimself, But the actual value js determined by what others
would give forthe use of his power. Hlonour, garded sub
jectively bythe recipient, the diference between his on
tstimate and the market estimate of his value, But hanowr,
regarded objectively, corresponds to the market estimate
that both establishes his actual power and is established by
bis actual or apparent power, His actual or apparent power
is made up chicly of his power to command the services of
others, and his power to command the services of others is
Based on the others’ estimate of his present power:
Honerals is whatwoever poset ation, of quality, ian argue
rmeneand signe of Pwer [50] Dominion, and Victory is Honouables
Tecate acquired by Power. Riche ste Honourable fa they ae
Power» Tiey Retlton of determination of what 2 an a
4s, i Honourable, a being the contempe of sll dius, and
tlngers To be Conspicuous, that i ty, tbe known For
‘Wath, Oc, grest Aeon, or ay eminent Good, s Honourable
zaign ofthe power for which hem conspicuous, Coretueste
fof great Riches, and ambition of great Honour are Honourable? a
fignes of powet to ohtain them. «Nor dost it aler the exe of
Honour, whether an action (oi be great and dificult and cone
quently signe of much power) be jus or unjust for Honour ene
‘ich only the opinion of Pex.
‘We have here the essential characteristics of the competi=
sive market. Every man's value, manifested by the honour
igiven im by others, is both determined by and determines,
the others’ opinion of his power, manifested by what they
‘would give forthe use of hi power, Valuing, or honouring,
is not simply a relation between one man who receives and
fone man who gives honour or dishonour; ita relation be
‘oreen one man sho receives it and al the others who give to
him, ic all other men who have any interest, however con
tingene of remote, in the way he uses his power. All these
other men make their estimates of his power independent
‘And they make their estimates of his power comparatively
to the power of others, for his usefulness to them is not
1 trian oh 2, FF TT
fan absolute quantity but a quantity depending on the
vailbility of others. And everyone not only i estimated
pall the others who ave any interest in the way he uses
his power, but alo esac all these others. Yet ou of this
immensely large number of independent value judgements,
tn objective value ofeach man is establishes. Ir ean only be
fo established because every man's power is regarded 28 4
‘commodity, ie. thing normally offered for exchange, snd
‘fired competitively. Every man i in the matket for power,
cither as supplier or emander, for everyone ether has some
pwer to offer to others or wants t9 acquire the power of
some others
‘The same assumptions are implied in the treatment of
honouring snd valuing in the Elomens, To honour a man ‘is
to conceive or acknowledge, that that man hath the odds oF
tcest of power above him that contendeth or compareth
himeell And woxounaete are those signs for which one
rman acknowledgeth power or excess above his concurrent
in another’ So strength, victory, adventure, nobility, and
the rest, arc honourable; “riches are honourable; a8 signs of
the power that acquired them, "., and according to the signe
of honcur and dishonour, so we estimate and make the
value or wont of a man, Bor so much worth is everything,
4a man wil give forthe use of all i ean do." Here, as in
“Leviasha, the objective value i established by the estimates
of others, which estimates are based on the usefulness of his
parent power to them, Every man’s value is established 28
prices are established in the market. A market determines
the price only of things which are normally offered for sale
and wanted by purchasers. To speak of the value or price
lof every man, therefore, sto assume that every man is either
‘seller of his power ors buyer of others’ power (or both).
“Hobbes's analysis of valuing and honouring, enlarging
as it does on the definitions of power and descriptions of
kinds of power, substantially completes his argument that
the necestary behaviour ofall men in society isan endlessstruggle for power over others. He has moved from the
Sefinition of power ax present means to abtain Future good,
through a redefinition of power asthe excess or eminence of
fone man's means in comparison with another's, The second