Definition of thomas hobbes Thomas hobbes
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What does thomas hobbes mean?
WordNet
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| thomas hobbes - English materialist and political philosopher who advocated absolute sovereignty as the only kind of government that could resolve problems caused by the selfishness of human beings (1588-1679) | ||
| Hobbes, Thomas Hobbes | ||
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Wikipedia 
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Thomas Hobbes (April 5, 1588 - December 4, 1679) was a philosopher from England. His most famous book is "Leviathan" (1651).
Hobbes mainly wrote about government and law -- he was a political philosopher. He tried to show that the best kind of government has one leader with total power. But the most interesting thing about Hobbes was the way he argued. He started by looking at human nature. He said that humans are very selfish and that we are willing to hurt each other if we think it will help us. He also said that, naturally, humans are all equal because we are all strong enough to kill each other -- even a child can kill a strong man while he sleeps. Then he imagined what things would be like without a government. He said that it would be terrible -- a "state of war". There wouldn't be enough stuff for everyone, and people would disagree about who got what. Some people would fight each other, and everyone else would be very worried about their own safety. No one would be able to trust anyone else or make plans for the future. Life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short".
Next, Hobbes argues that it would be a good idea for everyone to stop fighting and choose a leader ("the Sovereign"). Everyone should agree to obey the leader, and give him all their power. Then the leader is supposed to make laws to keep things safe. Once the leader is in place, everyone has to obey him, even those who disagree with him. This is because everyone already agreed to obey him no m
