Thomas Hobbes’ Law of Justice :: Political Philosophy

Thomas Hobbes’ Law of Justice Of Thomas Hobbes’ 19 laws of nature, the first three, which add consecutively up to his concept of justice, are by far the most influential and important, with the ultimate goal being an escape from the state of nature. The first law states that we should seek peace, and if we cannot attain it, to use the full force of war. Directly building off of the first law’s mandate to seek peace is the second law that states that we should lay down our rights of nature and form social contracts, if others are willing to as well. From this springs forth the concept of the covenant, in which men can transfer their rights of nature between each other and which forms the basis of moral obligation. With the enactment of each of these laws, which act as impediments towards the full use of an individual’s right of nature, an individual will trade a piece of their right of nature in order to promote cooperation between others. According to Hobbes, these two are not enough to keep human kind from betraying one another. There needs to be another layer of control. This is where the third law comes in to fully form the concept of justice. The third law simply states that men need to perform their valid covenants, which becomes Hobbes’ definition of justice. From this, injustice is defined as not performing your valid covenants. As can be seen by this, with one law building off of another, it is quite clear that Hobbes put great effort into creating a full representation of the world in order to support his political doctrine. Thus, in order to understand Hobbes’ reasoning for his concept of justice, this paper will elaborate on how Hobbes’ laws of nature are rules that every human being should follow in order to give them the best chance of living well as well as investigating the full requirements of justice and Hobbes’ claim that there is neither injustice nor justice in a state of nature. Finally, while Hobbes wove his concepts of the state of nature, the laws of nature and justice into an extremely tight web through the Euclidean method, I argue that his account for justice is too weak to account for social atrocities such as slavery, religious discrimination, animal cruelty, genocide and murder and thus it is my intent to show that his account of justice is inadequate.

“On the Sidewalk Bleeding” by Evan Hunter Essay

In the short story â€Å"On the Sidewalk Bleeding† by Evan Hunter, we learn that the main character of the story, Andy, is struggling to remove his jacket while he lay in an alley bleeding. We also learned that it was very painful for Andy to move, let alone take off the silk jacket, but he did so anyway. The jacket he wore symbolized his belonging to a city gang called The Royals. Andy wanted to remove his jacket in his last moments because he did not want people to think of him as being just another member of The Royals; he wanted to be remembered as Andy. Andy did not want to be portrayed as simply another young teenager who was caught up in city gang violence, but as himself; and so he tried to remove it. Andy knew that if he died, he would no longer be a Royal, but just simply Andy. While lying in the alleyway, Andy realized that the only reason a member of The Guardians, their opposing gang, stabbed him was because of his purple silk jacket that had the words â€Å"The Royals† stitched to the back of it. The words of his attacker continuously repeated in his mind; â€Å"That’s for you Royal!† Andy knew that the knife that cut through him did not hate Andy, but hated the jacket. Andy realized that the title of being a Royal was no longer as important to him as it once was. The jacket he had once worn with pride had meant nothing to him, and was the cause of the stabbing that occurred. Andy wondered why he thought the fights, the jumps and the purple jacket were once so important to him. While he was dying, he finally realized that being a Royal was not worth it because he had just wasted his time. Andy suddenly felt as though he had never done anything, seen anything or been anywhere. Although it was painful for Andy to remove the jacket, he did so in his last moments because he had realized how stupid being part of a gang was. Andy struggled to remove his jacket from his backside because he no longer wanted to be part of gang violence. Andy did not want to be a Royal.

A Solution to the Mind-Body Problem - 2685 Words

Search for Solution to the Mind-Body Problem The distinction between mind and body has been philosophical fodder for millennia. In its simplest form, the mind-body problem seeks to answer the question: What is the relationship between the mind and body? Philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists alike have crafted various theories in attempt to comprehend the place of thought, feeling, and self-understanding in the natural world. The first investigations into the relationship between mental and physical phenomena date back to classical antiquity; Plato interpreted the body as the prison of the soul (Carrier and Mittelstrass 10). The concept of consciousness and its existence as a mental element traces back to Descartes, at the very least (Carrier and Mittelstrass). This notion of consciousness, as described by Descartes, begs one to define what it is to be conscious, and subsequently the debate for classifications, identifications, and distinctions of mind states and processes ensued. Theories devoted to the mind-body problem first address the root of the dilemma: is the mind and body a single entity, or are they separate? This question separates the mind-body problem into two major schools of thought: monism and dualism. Monists hold that only one type of substance, mind or matter, compose existence (Wiltshire). The idealism theory supports monist perspectives by claiming the mind is the only substance responsible for existence and perception of reality.Show MoreRelatedThe Brain Identity Theory, Logical Behaviorism, And Dualism Essay989 Words   |  4 PagesHave you ever stop to think if your thoughts, beliefs, and desires can be described as something physical? 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