Leviathan Part II

Thomas Hobbes (1588 - 1679)

Leviathan Part II

▪Of The Liberties of Subjects

▪Liberty is the absence of oposition

▪Liberty & Fear are consistent – Throwing goods off a sinking ship

▪Liberty & Necessity are consistent – Keep the ship in the channel

▪Laws are worthless unless backed by a Sword

▪Even when sovereign executes an innocent person, neither does the other wrong

▪Liberty, properly, is the Liberty of the Commonwealth

▪Liberty of individuals is only in those natural rights which cannot be transferred to the Sovereign:

▸Self-Destruction (Sovereign killing me is OK, Killing myself is not)

▸Confession leading to destruction

▪Liberty of Subjects (cont.)

▪Right to disobey exists only where obedience frustrates the end of the Sovereign in the Commonwealth – to protect our lives. Thus, there is no liberty to refuse a sovereign command unless:

▸The command is to take your own life, or

▸The command is to confess a crime leading to execution or serious injury

▪No right exists to defend another from the Sovereign even if it is claimed that the Sovereign is wrong

▪Liberties of the Subject consist of those areas where the Sovereign has made no applicable rule

▪If the Sovereign demands pursuant to a law already made, the Subject may sue for his right before Judges, but if the Sovereign demands by his power as Sovereign, subject has no right to complain as he does so against himself.

▪On the Limits of the Sovereign

▪Sovereign cannot grant a liberty to subjects which prevents him from protecting the Subject, unless he renounces the sovereignty or transfers it to another

▪Obligations of the Subject to the Sovereign last only while the Sovereign can protect them:

▸Subject who is captured in war and forced to be subject to victor in order to protect his life may do so, and he is now the subject of his new sovereign

▸If a Sovereign banish his Subject (”outlaw” him), he is not a subject while banished

▸If a Sovereign is vanquished, then Subjects become subjects of the victorious Sovereign

▪Of the Civil Law

▪Law is not counsel, but rather a Command addressed to one obliged to obey the Sovereign

▪Civil Law is (to the Subject) the rules established byt he Sovereign for deciding right or wrong, i.e. compliance / the rule

▪Legislator is the true sovereign whether one or many

▪The Sovereign is not subject to the laws

▪Customs & tradition of the people are only law if within the will of the Sovereign via his enforcement or acquiesence

▪Law of Nature and the Civil Law thus contain each other and are equal in extent

▪Legislator is he who enforces the laws though made by another

▸For instance, where a sovereign conquers a people & continues to enforce the laws they had in place before he conquered them

▪Of the Civil Law (cont.)

▪The two arms of the Commonwealth are force & justice

▪Law can never be against reason, but reason is the intent of the law-maker

▪Law is applicable to those with means to know it

▸Not applicable to children or derainged persons

▸Laws of nature need no publication – the Golden Rule

▸Appointees owe fidelity to the Sovereign without instructions

▸In other cases, the Sovereign is to publish law by word, act, or deed

▪Interpretation of Laws depend upon Sovereign Authority

▸Only his agents can rightfully interpret the laws

▸Laws of Nature are properly interpreted by the Sovereign’s Agents

▸If Error found, the determine law differently in the next case

▸Precedent does not require making a law of errors

▪On Judging the Civil Law

▪Innocent means one adjudged “not guilty”

▪Guilty is one adjudged judicially (whether committed crime or not)

▪Presumptions of fact should never override proof

▪Sentence is law to the party, but not to a later judge

▪Things which make a good Judge

▸Understanding of equity (the law of nature)

▸Contempt of unnecessary riches

▸Ability to judge without fear, anger, love, or compassion

▸Patience to hear and pay attention

▸Memory to retain and apply what he has heard

▪Fundamental Laws are those which, if taken away, the Commonwealth is dissolved

▪Nothing else is fundamental

▪Great Diseases Which Weaken the Commonwealth

▪Ideas that

▸Every Man is a competent Judge or good and evil acts

▸Things done against conscience is sin

▸The Sovereign is subject to the civil laws

▸Anyone has property in his goods as against the Sovereign

▸Sovereign power may be divided (Powers divided destroy each other)

▸It is OK to kill the King if, first, you call him a tyrant

▸Difficulty in raising money caused by everyone thinking they have goods the Sovereign cannot take for use

▸Popularity of a potent subject

▸Big towns (political entities) capable of supporting their own military forces

▸Big corporations capable of disputing the absolute power of the Sovereign

▪Parting Thoughts

▪When war destroys the power of the Sovereign to Protect the Subjects, the right of the Sovereign is not extinguished, but theobligation of the subject may be. – Seek protection where-ever you can and support it.

▪Sovereign answers only to God, and is by the Law of Nature to protect the people. Therefore, the people cannot know the right of any law the sovereign makes.

▪Tyranny is just a word for the Sovereign used by those who are angry with the Sovereign, and, therefore, a hatred of the Commonwealth. Thus, the toleration of the hatred of tyranny is against the Natural Law.