Fulya Cansu Güner /
Thomas Hobbes’ book Leviathan is one of the
works which advocates paternalism rather successfully and awakens some
questions in readers’ minds, which they would not have possibly arise such
questions without this works’ reading. One of the most important of these
questions is whether we really need paternalism to keep humanity under control?
Also one thinks, since this is the main argument Hobbes presents, isn’t it
better to have a secure life in exchange of some liberties? Would it not be
worth it?
In Leviathan, Hobbes explicitly argues why
people need paternalism by introducing one particularly important concept:
state of nature. Since human beings are
wicked and selfish in their nature, Hobbes believes without a sovereign or
without a solid authority which applies paternalistic rules and laws; humanity
would be in a state which the war goes on incessantly and he calls this the ‘state
of nature’ (185). Furthermore, Hobbes has a strong belief that people need an
executive body during their whole lives, just like they have their parents in
their childhood. In this sense, I think may be Hobbes found the paternalism as
a closest answer for this issue or may be the most applicable one. After introducing
the state of nature concept, Hobbes uses it to legitimate almost everything
that he argues in the rest of his work. To be clearer, it can be demonstrated
by a schema as follows: (S.O.N = state of nature)
- Sovereign should decide the punishments.
- One must always seek peace. Because if not --))))
- All
people are equal by nature.
In order to prevent S.O.N, Hobbes
introduces the ‘laws of nature’ as well as an existence of a sovereign. As one
can guess, these laws contain the things that people are forbidden to do which
may risk their lives or it can be taken away by someone for the same purpose, as we see two examples of them in the last two rules presented in the schema (189). Therefore, one can conclude that in the base of Hobbes’ work Leviathan;
the sovereign and its rules, which are the laws of nature, represents a
paternalistic system in order to achieve a properly functioning society.
As a final thought, in chapter 20 of
the Leviathan, Hobbes presents paternalism as a way of acquiring dominion, as
he describes: “The right of Dominion by Generation, is that, which the Parent
hath over his Children; and is called PATERNALL, And is not so derived from the
Generation, as if therefore the Parent had Dominion over his child because he
begat him; but from the Childs Consent, either expresse, or by other sufficient
arguments declared” (253). In sum, it is strongly possible to argue that Hobbes
saw paternalism as a way of gaining power and legitimacy -which are the exact
features that he would like to see in a sovereign- by acquiring dominion. All in all, one can perceive from the Leviathan that Hobbes tried to build a system where he can gurantee people's life security, a quality life in general and he beleived that those features are more valuable than being completely free.
Works Cited
Image sources:
http://www.wuw-warsaw.pl/program.php?lang=eng&page=wydarzenia&id=46&mod=opis
http://lifeexaminations.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/the-state-of-nature-absence-makes-the-heart- grow-fonder/
http://studymore.org.uk/ssh2.htm
Other sources:
Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. 1651. Reprint. London: Penguin Group, 1968. Print.