What does the term 'political horsepower' refer to?
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The effectiveness of government as a political machine.
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What does the term 'political horsepower' refer to?
The effectiveness of government as a political machine.
How is government described in relation to a corporation?
As a 'board of directors' exercising the sovereign power of the State.
What is the primary task of government according to the text?
To exercise the sovereign power of the State.
What does Hobbes mean by war?
Not only real violence, but the constant threat of violence, leading to fear among individuals.
What years did Thomas Hobbes live?
1588 - 1679.
What makes Felicity impossible according to Hobbes?
The unending struggle for power.
What major work is Thomas Hobbes known for?
Leviathan.
What is the purpose of the social contract?
To form a government.
What political theory did Hobbes contribute to?
Theory of Social Contract.
What role does social society play according to Hobbes?
Merely socialization and political control.
How did Hobbes view human psychology?
As a set of purely physical processes reducible to body and motion.
Why do people need government according to Hobbes?
Without government, humans will annihilate each other due to their nature as power seekers.
What are the two kinds of physical motions according to Hobbes?
Vital/involuntary and voluntary motion.
What compels people to contract according to Hobbes?
The desire for security, not moral impulse.
What does Hobbes mean by 'will'?
It is 'the last appetite in deliberation'.
Why do people contract out of the state of nature?
To secure peace and reach Felicity.
What does the State of Nature provide in analyzing human nature?
A corollary method.
How does Hobbes describe human nature?
As utterly self-interested, power-seeking, and antisocial.
What must people surrender to the government?
All their rights, leading to absolute monarchy.
What is the precontract condition in the State of Nature?
A condition where people are constrained by legal rules without a governing power.
What is the definition of sovereignty in Hobbes' philosophy?
The ultimate power of the state over all other social and political bodies.
How is human behavior characterized in the State of Nature?
It is unconstrained.
What happens if individuals retain some rights while contracting with the government?
It would be insufficient to protect people from each other.
What drives the voluntary actions of man according to Hobbes?
The fulfillment of basic biological functions.
What does observing human behavior in the State of Nature reveal?
The essence of human beings.
What theory leads to Hobbes' Theory of Social Contract?
The Theory of Pleasure and Pain.
What is the State of Nature considered to be?
A mental construct or thought experiment.
What innate desire is revealed in the State of Nature?
A thirst for power.
What two conditions exist in the State of Nature?
Absolute liberty and equality.
Why is there absolute liberty in the State of Nature?
Because there are no laws to constrain individuals.
What does absolute equality in the State of Nature imply?
Human beings have roughly equivalent physical and intellectual capabilities.
What leads to the struggle for power in the State of Nature?
The condition of absolute liberty and equality.
What is the State of Nature described as?
A state of war.
What dictates the right to everything in the State of Nature?
The pursuit of felicity and survival.
What does the phrase 'everyone against everyone' signify?
The constant state of war in the State of Nature.
