Episode 21, Thomas Hobbes's Political Philosophy (Part I)

Everything you could need is on www.thepanpsycast.com! Please tweet us your thoughts at www.twitter.com/thepanpsycast. Few political thinkers can be considered as influential as Thomas Hobbes. Published in 1651, Hobbes’s most famous work, the Leviathan (or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil), argues that to leave a hypothetical state of nature, we must sign a social contract and submit ourselves to be ruled by an absolute sovereign. The state of nature is “a war of all against all”. The only rational way out for Hobbes is to establish a strong and undivided government. In this episode we’ll be asking questions like; Who was Hobbes and why is he important? What is human nature? Why do we need government? Part I. Life and Historical Context (03:00), Part II. The State of Nature (13:45), Part III. The Solution (00:10 - in Part II), Part IV. Further Analysis and Discussion (18:15 - in Part II). Make sure you’ve subscribed to us on iTunes to get new episodes as and when they’re released! Thank you, we hope you enjoy the episode!