The Reestablishment of Government Control Following Disaster

When you think of disaster, the scene that probably comes to mind is one of bystanders fleeing for their lives, stampeding away and creating a frenzied chaos that lends itself to looting and other despicable acts.  However, this pandemonium is not the norm. Frequently, disasters are followed by a period of unregulated harmony, with little [...]

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The Warehouse from Reservoir Dogs and Hobbe’s State of Nature.

Quentin Tarantino’s film, Reservoir Dogs (1992), takes place almost exclusively in a wide-open area of an abandoned warehouse.  The warehouse was supposed to be a safe house for a group of thieves after a heist; however, things don’t go as planned, and the warehouse ends up being very dangerous, with one of the thieves being [...]

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Hobbes’ State of Nature seen on the Open Ocean Waters

In the modern world, one can see variations of Thomas Hobbes’ State of Nature through the open waters of the Earth’s oceans.  The Somali pirates are a perfect example of this because the oceans make for the perfect situation for Hobbes’ State of Nature by allowing for a realm of no governing authority, allowing for [...]

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Hobbes State of Nature Violence: an Incorrect Theory

Hobbes has a methodical and mechanical view of the universe and world; however, in this mechanical view there seems to be a metaphorical “screw” loose. Hobbes argues in The Leviathan that in a state of nature, devoid of government and laws, mankind is in a “war of all against all.” His argument is based upon [...]

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Professors Hobbes, Burke, and Rousseau

Now that the semester is coming to a close students are stressing out about what grades they are going to receive and many have started making excuses for why they did not get the grade they were aiming for. A majority of these excuses revolve around the professor; for example, “he/she grades too hard,” or, [...]

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State of Nature …

This post is in response to “The Real State of Nature”, after reading and commenting on this post I started to think about Hobbes’ state of nature. I believe that when a state of nature occurs the one that Hobbes explains is the one that will happen. I would believe that a Hobbesian state of [...]

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The Fool’s Argument

In chapter 15 of the Leviathan Hobbes introduces the fool, a character that proposes a refutation to Hobbes’ third law of nature. I believe that the fool’s argument is true and a plausible one. After Hobbes gives the fool’s argument, he tries to refute it, but with a not very strong or convincing one for [...]

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The Real State of Nature

For Hobbes, the state of nature is an ugly place where people are only out for themselves. Rebecca Solnit argues that in the face of disaster, people are at their best and always willing to lend a helping hand to another person in need. My section argued that an actual state of nature would probably [...]

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Altruism in the State of Nature

The State of Nature was described in Professor LaVaque-Manty’s lecture as “what people are naturally like”.   This means what people are like when there is no authority figure to control the actions of an individual, a group of people, or a society.  There were three major philosophers that had state of nature theories: Hobbes, Locke, [...]

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The Psychology of Political Theory

Throughout history there have been various views of man in terms of his social relationships and subsequent forming of political structures. Aristotle (in his Politics) observed, “man is by nature a political animal.” Man’s behavior can be studied according to psychological principles. Given this fact, the political behavior of people may be subject to Freudian [...]

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