Hobbes claims that the agreement of animals is “natural” but that the agreement of men is not natural but “by covenant only”. What does Hobbes mean by this? Is it something that we can agree or disagree with?
This is where he states it:Lastly, the agreement of these creatures is natu- ral ; that of men, is by covenant only, which is artificial : and therefore it is no wonder if there be somewhat else required, besides covenant, to make their agreement constant and lasting ; which is a common power, to keep them in awe, and to direct
their actions to the common benefit.
In that chapter (17) he basically says that humans naturally crave for power and that can harm the covenant. But if there are punishments that are given out to whoever that breaks the contract then people would abide by the rules.
I want to know your opinion.
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Seems to me that he is saying animals don't have the ability to lie or deceive therefore their coexistence and interactions with one another are is stable and real; it is a continuum. However humans have the ability to be greedy, lie and deceive so their " brotherhood" is fluid, unstable and shaky. I don't know. Just taking a stab at it.
I'm not an expert on Hobbes but his big idea was that a powerful authority, the Leviathan, would be the ultimate judge and policeman of society. By no longer avenging our private wrongs and vendettas ourselves but instead handing them over to an authority with great power to do all the judging and punishing, there would be much less petty fighting and feuding and it wouldn't always be the strongest that would win. However, this is an agreement, a social contract that all people agree to adhere to because they can see it is their interests to do so. It is not the natural way of things, like the law of the jungle by which animals live. Instead it is a considered decision that has little to do with our animal nature (might makes right) and a lot to do with our reflective, mental calculations about what is fair and good and moral.