Thomas Hobbes was born the year of the Spanish Armada, and lived in England through the English Civil War. Therefore, times were not exactly peaceful. In addition to the Civil War, England was economically unstable, plague ridden, and run by gangs rather than police. His perspective on life was shaped by his times, and he stated that life is “solitary, poor, nasty, and short.” Hobbes’ most famous work, Leviathon, demonstrates his views of mankind, and proposes a social contract theory based on these beliefs. His ideas of a social contract theory were revolutionary and still influence government in the modern era. Yet his theory has many weaknesses because of his outlook on mankind.
Since Hobbes’ view was extremely narrow, so is his Leviathon. His theory of social contract applies well to 17th century Civil War England, but outside of this time period, it is very constraining to modern society. Hobbes thought that society must give up its freedom for liberty and security.......
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