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  • Essay / Thomas Hobbes' View on the Importance of Government

    The state of nature in accordance with the human species is the most primordial need of man. The brutal ways of sentient beings who need to satisfy their need for food, violence and sex are carried out out of necessity. The dilemmas of the human race begin with why we have these urges and end with how we can control them. Thomas Hobbes was a political philosopher who believed that all people were fundamentally selfish beings who loved to compete and win. Interestingly, Hobbes's belief that people live solely for their own personal gain did not interfere with his belief that people can also cooperate in the right scenario. Hobbes's philosophy implied that man needed a governing body to keep him from running amok and acting freely according to his instincts, and in return, he supported government and authority. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay True self-awareness comes with morality, and Hobbes believed that there could be no enforced moral code without a governmental agency. People would run amok without rules to follow, and a society acting on basic needs can be incredibly dangerous and barbaric. To escape the calamity of an archaic civilization, people must evolve and work together to ensure that proper laws are consistently followed and upheld. Thomas Hobbes essentially believed that people are inherently evil, and with this notion he proposed the solution that people would form a government to decisively determine what can be accepted as "good" and "evil." A moral compass is created when a group can objectively state what is allowed and what is not. Hobbes believed that man had difficulty deciding what choices to make, because his primal needs would always lead him down the most selfish path. The ideal utopia would consist of a governing body that eventually adapts to judging situations so reasonably and objectively that there are never hostile situations between anyone. When a society can trust its governing body in terms of security and welfare infrastructure, that is when it reaches a golden age. As a political philosopher, Thomas Hobbes addresses moral issues and man's original sin. Man's vices, wrongdoings, and so-called "sins" all arise from a primal need. Hobbes believed in a system that would help people escape their natural, unevolved instincts and that platform was government. To escape the state of nature that creates primitive beasts from man, people must cooperate and embrace the knowledge of others to expand their understanding. People can work together under the right circumstances and forget their differences to quell logic and remove chaos. It is not impossible for a person to become self-sufficient without appeasing the barbarity of primal necessity, but having an authoritative body to turn to for advice would surely speed up the process. Free choice is in the heart and soul of every man, but Hobbes believed that we were all predisposed to a Neanderthal way of thinking and living. Whether Hobbes is right or not, government remains a necessity to keep society on its feet. Authority is not a bad thing when respect is mutual.