Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes (April 5, 1588 - December 4, 1679) was an English statesman and philosopher. Born in a pastor's family in Wiltshire, England. He studied at Oxford University in his early years, and later worked as an aristocratic tutor and traveled to the European continent. He created a complete system of mechanical materialism, pointing out that the universe is the sum of all mechanically moving extensive objects. He put forward the theory of "natural state" and the origin of the state, and pointed out that the state was formed by people's contract in order to comply with the "natural law". It was a man-made robot, opposed to the divine conferment of monarchical power, and advocated constitutional monarchy. He compared the Pope to the devil and the monks to the ghosts, but advocated the use of "national religion" to control the people and maintain "order".

Life of the characters

Early career

Hobbes was born on April 5, 1588 in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England. His father had to leave the town as a pastor of a neighboring parish and entrusted his three children to his brother Francis. Hobbes began his education at the age of four at the church in mamesbury, and then went to private school, taught by Rob Latimer, a young man who graduated from Oxford University. Hobbes was a gifted student who was sent to Magdalen College in Oxford around 1603. At that time, the president of modlin college was a strict Puritan, John Wilkinson, and young Hobbes was also influenced by him.

In college, Hobbes obviously studied according to his own plan; he was rarely attracted by other formal school courses. He didn't get his degree until 1608, but during this period, he was recommended by the Dean Sir James hussee to be the tutor of William, the son of Baron Cavendish of hadwick (later the Duke of Devon), and Hobbes's close relationship with the family began.

Hobbes accompanied young William to travel all over Europe in 1610, which gave Hobbes the opportunity to compare the scholastic philosophy education he received at Oxford with the scientific and critical research methods in Europe. At that time, Hobbes focused on ancient Greek and Latin works. After more than ten years of efforts, he completed the translation of Thucydides' history of the Peloponnesian War in 1628 and became the first person to translate it from Greek manuscript into English. As a result, it is not clear to Robert Hobbes that the democratic system can not be maintained in a long period of war.

academic research

Although Hobbes had made friends with some writers and thinkers such as Francis Bacon at that time, he began to expand his philosophical research field after 1629. His patron, Cavendish, Duke of Devon, died of the plague in June 1628, and the Duchess no longer hired him. But Hobbes soon found a new job as a tutor for the son of Sir Gervase Clifton. Hobbes stayed in Paris for a long time for this job until the Cavendish family hired him again in 1631, but this time he was taught to William's son. In the next seven years, Hobbes continued to expand his knowledge of philosophy while teaching, thinking about some major philosophical debates. He traveled to Florence in 1636 and joined the philosophical debate group of Maran Mason and others in Paris. He began to call himself a philosopher and scholar in 1637.

Hobbes was initially interested in the study of the principle of motion of objects. Although he was highly interested in this phenomenon, he disdained to study it in the experimental way of physics. He conceived a set of principles of physical operation, and studied this set of virtual principles all his life. He first wrote several papers on the framework of this set of principles, proving that the principles can be explained in the movement of physical phenomena - at least in the movement or mechanical operation. Then he separated human beings from nature, and showed in another paper which physical movements would involve special perceptual phenomena, knowledge, and feelings, so as to prove the particularity of human beings. At last, he explained how human beings form and participate in society, and advocated that society should avoid people returning to the primitive state of "barbarism and misfortune". Therefore, he advocated that the phenomena of body, human, and state should be studied together.

Return to the UK

Hobbes returned to England in 1637, when the political and social situation in England was turbulent, Hobbes could no longer concentrate on the study of philosophy. However, in the collection of the elements of law, which he wrote in the first few years of his return to England, it clearly shows that his political thought had not been greatly changed until the outbreak of the British civil war in the 1640's.

In November 1640, the long-term parliament replaced the short-term Parliament. The conflict between Parliament and the king deteriorated rapidly. Hobbes thought that his works might lead to political persecution, so he fled to Paris soon and did not return to England in the next 11 years. In Paris, he rejoined the debate group of Maran Mason, and at the same time, he wrote a criticism of Descartes' metaphysical meditation.

He began to write the third part of the study, decive, and finished it in November 1641. Although he initially intended to circulate it privately, the book was still widely circulated in the end. He went on to study the first two parts again and spent most of his time on them. In those years, he published few works except a short article on optics (1644). He established a good reputation in the field of philosophy, and in 1645, together with Descartes and others, he was elected to mediate the academic disputes about the transformation of circle.

during the civil war

The British civil war broke out in 1642. When the situation of royalists began to deteriorate in the middle of 1644, many supporters of the king began to go into exile in Europe. Many of the people who fled to Paris met Hobbes, which made him interested in politics. At the same time, his book "deceve" was reissued and widely circulated.

In 1647, by chance, Hobbes became the mathematics teacher of Charles, Prince of Wales, who was traveling to Jersey around July. Their apprenticeship lasted until 1648, when Charles went to Holland.

Under the influence of many exiled British royalists, Hobbes decided to write a book to explain the importance of government and the war caused by political chaos. The structure of the book is based on an unpublished paper written in 1640. In Hobbes' view, a country is like a great giant or monster (Leviathan). Its body is composed of all the people, and its life originates from people's demand for a civil government. Otherwise, the society will fall into the primitive state of constant turmoil due to human survival instinct. The book ends with a review and summary. Hobbes concludes that people can't violate the social contract with the state in any case. However, Hobbes also discusses that when Leviathan can no longer protect its people, the social contract will be void. Because the situation in England at that time connived at the criticism of religious doctrines, Hobbes' theory was even more taboo. The first edition of Leviathan was called element a Philo Sophia decision.

Hobbes stayed in Paris while writing Leviathan. In 1647, Hobbes contracted a serious illness, which made him lie down in bed for six months. After recovering from his illness, he began to write again and kept a steady progress until 1650. At the same time, he translated many of his previous Latin works into English. In 1650, while waiting for Leviathan to publish, he allowed publishers to publish many of his early papers in two pamphlets. In 1651, he published his translation of deceve. Leviathan's printing work took quite a long time, and finally came into the market in the middle of 1651. At that time, the title of the book was Leviathan, or the essence, form and power of the church state and citizen state. The first edition of the cover scroll illustration was also very well-known, depicting a Leviathan giant with a crown, one hand holding a sword, the other hand holding a battle, and the giant's body was composed of countless people .

The book caused a sensation as soon as it was published. Soon Hobbes received a lot of praise and criticism, far beyond all other thinkers at that time. However, the publication of this book quickly broke his relationship with other fugitive royalists, forcing him to seek protection from the revolutionary British government. At that time, the royalists tried to kill him, because the realism in the book not only angered the Anglican royalists, but also the Catholic French. Hobbes fled back to England and arrived in London in the winter of 1651. After his surrender to the revolutionary government, he was allowed to live in seclusion in Ford lane, London.

Life in old age

In addition to publishing a large number of poorly discussed and criticized works on Mathematics and geometry, Hobbes also continued to write and publish works on philosophy. After the restoration of the British monarchy in 1660, "Lord Hobbes"

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