Political Science 2237E Lecture : Hobbes - State of Nature and the Sovereign - January 14th.docx
2 May 2014
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To achieve individual security, one must anticipate and strike first: desire for competition, distrust, and desire for glory are the principle causes of conflict, war (in the context of hobbes) refers to the lack of assurance of peace the constant threat and/or will to die, looking at hobbes" theory, hobbes presupposes speech necessary to successful human existence and community, hobbes compares self preservation to the covenant (leviathan), creating the state (compares it to the bible), sovereignty (for hobbes) is very apparent in the individual it is power. The sovereign/leviathan is the sum of all individuals: the sword is reflective of the secular power in combination with the scepter, is symbolic of the unity of these two (secular and religious power), reflective of the act of coming together to create the sovereign a mutual contract made between all individuals, how does hobbes view political dissent or resistance, dissent = a breach of contract.
