Thomas Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book “Leviathan” in which he writes about the state of nature as an anarchic world where everyone acts in self-interest. His political philosophy follows on from his understanding of human nature to be exclusively materialistic and antisocial; he states that we possess “animal appetites” and are inherently competitive so peace in the world and in society is non-perpetual. We are selfish and untrusting human beings as we act in self-interest to fight for wealth, power and material goods and, as these exclusively material goods are scarce, humans end up constantly in conflict over who gets the goods. Hobbes also states that the three human principles of conflict – competition, diffidence and glory – are driven by emotion and desire so humans are always in a state of tension as our desire for material goods always overcomes our ability to maintain peace and order. However, Thomas Hobbes does have a solution to this human nature through his ethics: Hobbes asserts that conflict cannot lead to progress so we have to use reason (driven by emotion) to find peace and agreements because peace and harmony are beneficial for all in the long run. Peace is ultimately in each individual's interest as social order enables everyone to get their needs and wants without conflict. This theory explains the existence of governments in society as humans need a governing body to keep their constant vying for power in check and to instil social harmony. Hobbes argued that without a strong government, people would be constantly competing for power within a state leading to detrimental effects on society.
Although this theory does not seem palatable due to its promulgation that we are selfish and antisocial beings, it does have its merits and various strengths so it can be used to understand current affairs in the world. Humans are always acting in self-interest and when two people's differing needs (to act in self-interest) clash, conflict is inevitable. Even actions which can be perceived to be inherently altruistic are driven by our self-interest: if I were to give a homeless person some food so they could survive, I am doing so because I need to assuage my guilt of having more and need to demonstrate to larger society my generosity to the less fortunate (which is a socially desirable trait). One cannot simply ignore their emotions when they see someone in pain and when they give the homeless person food, they are making themselves feel better as they believe they are spreading good and not being selfish with their property (in this case, their food). Because of our inherently selfish actions, governments exist as bodies to control the mass population and the legislature of a nation is to keep personal power in check whilst the law is to make sure people don't act in self-interest and harm others. Not only does Thomas Hobbes’ theory explain national affairs and security for a country, it also validates and clarifies the basis for political realism in which many countries/non-state actors are constantly acting in self-interest in the international system (eg. when President Trump killed the leader of ISIS in the name of national security). However, there are some weaknesses to this theory as Hobbes asserts that humans are antisocial beings acting in self-interest but this is not necessarily true as selfish actions don’t have to be antisocial. For example, when YouTubers collaborate in videos, they are doing so to gain more individual popularity but they are pursuing their self-interest peacefully through collaboration (ie. social behaviour, not antisocial behaviour). Additionally, there are many transnational issues in the world (eg. climate change) in which countries opt to peacefully collaborate amongst one another to pursue their selfish goals of securing national security and sustainability. Selfish actions don’t have to be anti-social as humans can still act in self-interest but through collaboration. This notion exposes the weaknesses of Hobbes’ theory on human nature as although we may be inherently selfish, we are not anti-social nor are we always in conflict whilst pursuing selfish goals.
