Life Lessons from Hobbes (Book Review)

Hannah Dawson, Life Lessons from Hobbes, London: Pan Macmillan, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4472-4562-9, £6.99, CND$11.99, Rs. 350, pp. 118.

Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher, born in Wiltshire in 1588. He is best known for his political philosophy encased in his tour-de-force, Leviathan. The author has extracted life lessons from this book and presented them under eight topics. Since Hobbes is a political thinker, the lessons have strong political leanings and aim at helping us grow into good citizens and also at a more primary level, as persons.

The first chapter, ‘On Living in Fear’, presents Hobbes’ view that fear is characteristic in the state of nature. It so preoccupies us that we have neither the time nor peace of mind to realize our full potential. In order to overcome this debilitating emotion, we ought to first recognize it and then work to overcome it. Chapter two, ‘On Living without Fear’ deals with Hobbes’ ironical solution to counter the perennial fear we are subject to - namely, Leviathan – in other words, the state. The third chapter discusses the topic of freedom. Hobbes opposes the view of absolute freedom and presents his view of freedom from the deterministic stance he advocates. Freedom is principally the unopposed ability to move and act in accord with ones needs for a good life.

The fourth chapter carries forward the discussion begun in the third. The subject of freedom is further explored and clarified. Chapter five is an interesting one. The subject is the human passions. Hobbes insists that everything we do is the effect of our passions. His anti-metaphysical views lead him to see the human person as nothing greater than an animal. There is no soul which sets him/her apart. All our actions are caused by one passion or another. Hobbes notes, “Life itself is but motion, and can never be without desire, nor without fear, no more than without sense.”

Discussions on the passions lead us to the obvious point of morality. Each of us has different desires. It is when one person’s desires clash with those of the other that problems arise. Hobbes proposes sociability for the sake of peace, drawing from the Christian teaching of the Golden Rule. Chapter seven focuses on Hobbes’ warning about the duplicitous and hazardous power of language. This lesson is a very pertinent one especially for our communication-savvy age. He calls us to delve into the real meaning of our words in order to understand them. The last chapter entitled, ‘On Religion as a Human Construct’ presents Hobbes’ anthropological analysis of the origins of religion. His chief qualm is that ‘where there is religion there is oppression and domination’. He spoke for his times but he has a point even in ours.

The author has done a commendable job presenting the rather difficult thoughts of Thomas Hobbes and drawing out lessons from them. The book is highly readable. I was struck by one key difference in this book vis-à-vis the other books in the same series: this one had more of the author’s words and less of Hobbes’. While the other books carried long quotations from the works of the philosopher, this one carried relatively fewer. The author has done a marvelous job of concising and presenting the ideas in a logical and pedagogical manner. Hobbes has wonderful things to say to us. Read this book to hear him out.