My Life and My Accomplishments

                My name is Thomas Hobbes, and I am an English philosopher of the seventeenth century.  I was born on April 5th, 1588 and died on December 4th, 1679. I am well known for writing the Leviathon. As a philosopher, I vehemently support absolute monarchy.

                My early childhood was a blur to me. I do not know who my mother is, and my father abandoned me to my uncle when I was only a child. After my uncle got into a heated argument with a clergyman,I lived in a religious school. Eventually, I was accepted into a private school, where I studied eagerly. My studious attitude paid off as I was accepted into Magdalen Hall, which was run by a Puritan, John Wilkinson. After completing my bachelor’s degree in 1608, I began to tutor the son of the Baron of Hardwick. Through a vacation with the Cavendish family , I began to look at philosophical ideas, which eventually lead to the my book Leviathan.

                During my life, England was in constant civil war, which led me to flee to France. I strongly supported the Royalists because I strongly advocated absolute monarchy, which I showed in the Leviathan. However, I became famous not because of my opposition against constitutional monarchy, but rather because I started the foundation of the social contract in my writings. In Leviathan, I reviewed an ancient world, where no human laws had been formed.  I showed that human society would be “poor, nasty, brutish, and short" without a strong government (Wikipedia). Humans are like animals; they cannot be controlled unless forcefully limited by one another. Central governments can restrict and prevent internal conflicts and wars. After analyzing for several years, I had concluded several natural laws, in which I divided into four sections in Leviathan. In the first section of the book, I have concluded three laws about man. The first law is that “that every man ought to endeavour peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it; and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek and use all helps and advantages of war. My second law of nature is “that a man be willing, when others are so too… to lay down this right to all things; and be contented with so much liberty against other men as he would allow other men against himself.” Finally, my third law states that injustice is just a failure to create an agreement.

                In my book, I emphasized the necessity of a government to prevent wars caused by the brutality of humans. In addition I took a materialistic view of Christianity, believing that Heaven and Hell were real locations on Earth. However, with new revolutionary beliefs comes critics who oppose and reject them, deeming them preposterous.

                Throughout my life, my views were often debated and opposed by other philosophers, theologians and mathematicians, including John Bramhall and John Wallis. The misguided theologian Bramhall attacked my beliefs on Christianity, attempting to defend the Anglican Church, while Wallis denounced my theories on mathematics and physics. I am positive that my beliefs and ideas are correct, and remain optimistic that someone will prove my reasoning true.