The theory of Human Nature, according to Hobbes, derives from the basis that human appetites and aversions exclusively govern human life, driven by three principle desires: preservation of life, enjoyment of physical pleasures and comforts, and lastly, acquisition or maintainability of power. ... The foundation of Hobbes' argument, as a result of this reasoning, is that he is able to compellingly claim that peace is unattainable on the rationale that humans are prone to this state of nature unless there is an established form of absolute government. ... That being said, I acknowledge Hobb...

• Word Count: 1514
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Graduate

The term "state of nature" is used to describe and understand what the natural attributes and characteristics of human beings would have been like in the absence of civilization and enlightenment and how they would have interacted with one another in this state. This view of humans in their natural state is split between philosophers such as Hobbes and Spinoza who have a relatively pessimistic on the view of human nature, agreeing on themes such as the hazardous nature of man within the state of nature the need for a central sovereign figure but differ on their reasoning on how they come to ...

• Word Count: 2006
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate

The base level activity that, perhaps best shows man to be a political animal is moral consideration; "humans alone have perception of good and evil, just and unjust" . ... So, all interaction both informal and formal between human-kind and especially the process that culminates in a state being formed are activities that demonstrate man is, by nature a political animal. ... That man is by nature a political animal means in a minimum sense that relationships are necessary to human-kind as well as being desired. ... The ultimate end-goal, eudaimonia is the lens we must view all human behaviour ...

• Word Count: 1343
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Graduate

In Peter Hayes' article, "The Bourgeois Moderation," we are presented with the argument that Macpherson and other scholars' error in the thinking that Hobbes transfers the intense competition of the state of nature into the commonwealth. ... First being the insistence of the natural equality of all people in the commonwealth, second, by including maxims of moderation as part of the laws of nature, and lastly, by emphasizing the need to avoid war except as a last resort. ... While we are viewing the Commonwealth as a society of moderation, we can see how its laws are meant to cont...

• Word Count: 1433
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate

Rousseau's idea of the general will is related to the concept of the republic as not just a real entity but one that is in fact more indicative of the values of human nature than the individuals who reside in it. ... Rousseau says, "In the state of nature, where everything takes place in such a uniform manner and where the face of the earth is not subject to those sudden and continual changes caused by the passions and inconstancy of peoples living together.... Ironically, though, Rousseau, an advocate of the idea that humans are inherently good, defies the theories of justice that R...

• Word Count: 1216
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Graduate