Thomas Hobbes: biography of this English philosopher.

A review of the life and intellectual legacy of this philosopher, representative of determinism.

In this article we will see a biography of Thomas HobbesEnglish philosopher of the seventeenth century, referring to his origins, his career and some of his most important works.

As we will see, Hobbes is considered one of the founders of contractualism, and was a conservative philosopher who traveled widely and advocated an absolutist political regime. We will review his thought through his philosophical and social ideas, which were materialistic and deterministic.

Summary Biography of Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes (1588 - 1679), full name Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, and also known as Thomas Hobbs Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, who specialized in political philosophy.. Hobbes was born on April 5, 1588 in Westport, near Malmesbury (England), and died on December 4, 1679 in Derbyshire (England).

Hobbes is especially remembered for being considered one of the founders of modern political philosophy. One of his most outstanding works, "Leviathan" (1651), was the basis of Western political philosophy, which focused on the theory of the social contract. Thus, in this work, Hobbes lays the foundations of the contractualist theory.

Contractualism

The contractualist theory (or contractualism) is a current of modern political philosophy and law, which establishes that society enjoys a series of social rights and advantages in exchange for the acceptance that its freedoms are limited by a series of laws that must be followed. by a series of laws that they must follow and comply with.

Thus, with regard to Hobbes' political philosophy, he emphasizes that the idea of the social contract on which political communities were based (i.e., contractualism). (i.e., contractualism).

Law and politics

On the other hand, Hobbes also developed some of the foundations of European liberal thought, and spoke, for example, of equality as a fundamental right, rights andHe spoke, for example, of equality as a fundamental right, of rights and of the artificial character of the political order. Thus, although his thought is absolutist, he also made some contributions to liberal thought.

Thomas Hobbes was of the opinion that legitimate political power should be representative and based on the consent of the people, of the people. He also spoke of laws; in this sense, he believed that everything that has not been explicitly prohibited is permitted.

Origin

Thomas Hobbes was the son of a clergyman of Westport. His mother's name is unknown, and in fact, much of his childhood is also unknown.

In 1603, Hobbes studied at Oxford University, Magdalen Hall. There studies scholastic philosophy and logicand graduated five years later, in 1608. It is in that same year when he begins to "rub shoulders" with the nobility and the most intellectual social class, as a result of taking charge of the son of the Earl of Devonshire (William Cavendish).

With only twenty-two years old, Thomas Hobbes undertook his first trip to Europe, in 1610; from that trip, Hobbes realized the power that scholasticism (theological and philosophical current) still exerted in many fields of knowledge.

Intellectual and professional career

As for his professional career, Thomas Hobbes published in 1628 a translation of Thucydidesa work that criticizes the democratic system and mentions its dangers, through a frankly conservative perspective.

William Cavendish, the aforementioned earl whose son Hobbes cares for, died in 1629. Thereafter, Hobbes becomes the tutor of Gervase Clinton's son, with whom he travels in Europe, and discovers geometry.. In fact, in geometry Thomas Hobbes also finds one of his passions, and tries to apply it to the social and political principles he has defended so much.

Travels

As we can see, Thomas Hobbes was a great traveler. In one of his travels, specifically the third in Europe, made in 1637, the English philosopher became acquainted with the circle of Marin Mersenne (an important French priest, mathematician and philosopher of the time).

From there Hobbes establishes contact with two outstanding figures: René Descartes and Pierre Gassendi. He meets more important authors, such as Galileo, also in one of his trips (this time in Italy, in 1636). The fact of knowing Galileo influences him in the development of his social philosophy, based on geometry and natural sciences.based on geometry and the natural sciences.

After several trips, Hobbes finally returned to his homeland, England, in 1637. It was then that the philosopher secretly circulated a manuscript entitled Elements of LawAt that time, there were clashes between the king and parliament. In this work, Hobbes defends the need for absolute sovereignty (versus parliamentarism)..

However, after circulating his work, the English philosopher does not feel at ease, and fearing the consequences of such dissemination, he goes into voluntary exile in France in November. But Hobbes continued to write, and in 1642 he published De civewhich consists of a theory of government. He also begins to write another work, De corporewhich is the first work of a trilogy dealing with "man, the citizen and the body".

Hobbes' philosophy

Delving now into the more theoretical part of this author, we ask ourselves how was Hobbes' philosophy? It was based on two currents: materialism and determinism.. In fact, Hobbes' philosophy is the most complete materialistic doctrine of the seventeenth century.

According to him, the universe is a great corporeal machine, in which the strict laws of mechanicism are followed. By means of these laws any phenomenon can be explained by purely quantitative elements, i.e. matter, matter, matter, matter, matter, matter, matter, matter, matter, matter, matter.that is: matter, motion and the collisions of matter in space.

To illustrate all this a little, we remember one of Hobbes' phrases in his work Leviathanwhich reads: "The universe is corporeal. Everything that is real is material and what is not material is not real."

Materialism

In this sentence we see how the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes was materialistic. His vision of philosophy, moreover, was linked to a deterministic position of the world; that is to say, for him all the phenomena that occur in the universe are material, for him, all the phenomena that occur in the universe are determined, irremediably, by a chain of events.irremediably, by a causal chain of events.

In other words: "nothing happens by chance", but everything that happens is the necessary result of a series of causes. As a result, it is understood that everything, in a certain way, can be anticipated or foreseen.

Determinism

The determinism of the philosopher is based on a rationalist method, which has a purely geometrical and mathematical character.. This method is, in fact, Descartes' analytical-synthetic method, and starts from the hypothesis that "the parts of a whole (the causes of things) must be decomposed into smaller parts, in order to explain and understand the whole or the parts as a whole".

Politics

We have seen how in the work of Leviathan reflects a large part of Thomas Hobbes' ideas in relation to politics. His political ideas (and in relation to political philosophy), clash with the decentralizing (parliamentary) ideas of the time..

At that time, the Reformation proposed an ideological freedom and freedom of conscience that Hobbes did not support. According to Hobbes, these ideas of the Reformation would lead to anarchy, chaos and revolution.

This is why Hobbes advocates, as we have already seen, absolutism as the ideal political regime; according to him, this regime would combat all these "evils" that would probably give rise to ideological freedom and parliamentarism.