Analysis Of Thomas Hobbes Leviathan

“We should give our obedience to an unaccountable sovereign […] otherwise what awaits us is a “state of nature” that closely resembles civil war- a situation of universal insecurity” (iep.utm.edu). These words express Thomas Hobbes’ version of philosophical absolutism. He believes that a world without a government yields disorder and lunacy. Hobbes, in his book The Leviathan (1651), communicates a crucial need: a ruler who can keep the world in order, a feared, all-powerful ruler. He concludes in his book that the world needs a leviathan, a sea monster that lived during the time of Job in the Old Testament. This creature’s characteristics are described in chapter 41,
“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a
rope? […] Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? […] Can you make a pet of it like a bird? […] If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. No one is fierce enough to rouse it.”
The leviathan is not messing around! This monster has the capability and power to overtake anyone who challenges it; though, no one would ever dare to do so. One may see a striking resemblance between the attributes of this creature and the attributes of the “unaccountable sovereign” Hobbes desires to see. It is important that one keeps in mind the period of time The Leviathan was written. It was written during the English Civil War (1642-1651). Because of the turmoil of the war, Hobbes was not very convinced people had the ability to coexist without an all-powerful authority mollifying them. His lack of faith in the goodness of humanity caused him to come to this conclusion: without government, the world lies in a state of nature or a state of war. Again, his setting significantly impacted his conclusion.