Thomas Hobbes 'Desire For Summum'

Does the man’s natural desire for “Summum Bonum” leads to the state of war where peace can only be achieved within an absolute monarchy?
According to the 17th century philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, humans share a fundamental quality – an enduring desire for power, glory and self-perseverance, and in the right of nature it is upon each man’s liberty to use his own power to persist his existence. Hobbes, in one of his most influential texts, Leviathan (1651), constructs arguments which justify destroying one’s fellow man to achieve one’s goals, simply because, “if two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies” thus, a state of war. Regardless, peace can be established by a social contract, which
In the state of nature, a man is continuously desiring objects that are not in his possession. One’s happiness cannot consist of only desiring to enjoy an item once or for a certain period of time. By nature, men lack “Summum Bonum”, the highest good, hence while shaping his environment and oneself, in the process, a man creates the war of all against all. Simplest reasoning of such statement, is that men only desire and act accordingly to whatsoever is best suiting them. Though men may be different in terms of strength of their natural power, they are equal in being able to kill or physically harm another while striving for their desired object. In such cases, according to the fundamental law, which is “to seek peace, and follow it … by all means we can, to defend ourselves.” Hobbes argues that
All of his power comes from human actions wherein they voluntarily agree to a contract and rest their rights to the authority. This is even being represented on the frontispiece of Hobbes book, Leviathan. The shown sovereign consists of hundreds of people giving their rights for the ruler as he stands over the nation. His will is the will of all people and the multitude becomes one. There is a unity in the state, as the sword the Leviathan is holding represents power and the crosier stands for religious authority. Sovereign has the power of the military and the church, but only because people have agreed to it, hence the state is composed of our individual power. Hobbes introduces, that there are three possible forms of a Commonwealth – a democracy, an aristocracy and a monarchy, proclaiming the previous as the only right form of sovereign authority. For the writer, this is the only method of maintaining civil polity, lowest potential for conflict, preventing society from turning into civil war and limiting the decision making body. The sovereign is responsible for making laws, acting justly, choosing nobles and ministers and so on, but most importantly, it is upon its accountability, to maintain peace and stability within the Commonwealth. In the state of nature, security is impossible for anyone and in behind every life’s