19. Contract & Commonwealth: Thomas Hobbes

The lecture begins by outlining the agenda: finishing the discussion on punishment and transitioning to the third unit of the course, focusing on the individual's status as a member of a community, drawing parallels between the individual and the community as seen in Plato's Republic. The discussion revisits civil punishment, deontological and consequentialist theories, and the psychological factors influencing the desire to punish. It then explores the question of how civil punishment relates to personal contexts, referencing Alan Kasdan's parenting guide, which emphasizes rehabilitation and reinforcing desired behaviors rather than merely punishing undesired ones. The lecture transitions to the fundamental question of political legitimacy and the social contract tradition, referencing Glaucon's account of justice. It introduces Thomas Hobbes and his Leviathan, discussing Hobbes' view that a civil state is necessary for commodious self-preservation and that an absolute sovereign is needed to guarantee the state's stability. Hobbes' argument for the state is based on the idea of rough equality among individuals, leading to a state of war, and the lecture concludes by introducing Hobbes' concepts of rights and laws of nature, including the first, second, and third laws of nature, setting the stage for a discussion on the dilemma posed by Hobbes and potential solutions.