Ideas of Thomas Hobbes and Rene Descartes - Essay Example

? Comparison and Contrast of Ideas of Thomas Hobbes and Rene Descartes Introduction Thomas Hobbes and Rene Descartes were contemporaries. Hobbes was an English philosopher known for his political thoughts while Descartes was a French mathematician and then he evolved into a philosopher. His contributions in the field of analytical geometry, algebra, and calculus have been enormous. He demonstrated a link between philosophy and physics. The Ideas of Thomas Hobbes Hobbes’ main concern was how social and political order can be set so that mankind can live in peace and harmony. He lived in an era when society was divided economically, religiously and by region. That was the time when radical political and religious sects were at large causing social and political chaos. He observed all this and knew how it affects all badly. Hobbs ideas on moral thoughts, politics, on the subject of sovereignty should be seen in this context. (Williams 2005) Apart his contributions in the field of geometry and optics, he is best known for his writings on politics and morality. In his famous work 'Leviathan', he equates human body to machine. Speaking on human powers of reasoning and judgment, he believes that human judgment is unreliable and so science must come to its rescue. The human judgments are distorted because they are governed by self-interest; pleasures and pains motivate them at the given moment. But the question arises why humans have distorted judgments? In reply he says that human beings have beliefs about supernatural entities, and spirits and that is also a reason for their fears and often this becomes a reason for their distorted judgment. He further argues that the frailties involved with judgment can only be overcome by science through reliable knowledge of the future. (Williams 2005) For Hobbs, ethics is all about human nature which is vulnerable; human being’s capacity to reason is fragile and that can be easily influenced. That is why he suggests of a sovereign authority under which human beings can live securely and peacefully. In the absence of any sovereign to govern people, there would be only a natural state as existed in the beginning of the times or in some societies (such as American Indians during those times). That natural state may occur at any time, should different factions of the society so desire. As per his basic argument, it is most unlikely that human beings will ever live in peace and cooperation in the absence of a sovereign government and that is why we have to have a sovereign political authority to avoid conflict, wars and chaos in the society. (Williams 2005) The Ideas of Descartes Apart from being a great mathematician, his writings gave clear indication that he approached issues always with a scientific bent of mind. Descartes' major contribution has been his theory on mind-body dualism. The thesis that he proposes is that mind and body are two distinct things. He believes that the source of scientific knowledge is mind and not the senses within body. He concludes that our mind is more clearly known to us than our body. He uses the word soul and mind quite interchangeably. He believes that only humans have mind or souls. (Skirry, 2006) Descartes stresses that thinking is the major purpose of living. He is one of the finest proponents of dualistic theory that stresses on matter (body) and soul (mind). His perception is ‘clear and distinct’ on this aspect. Modern philosophy has roots in his philosophy of dualism. He adopted the philosophy of systematic doubt on everything laying the foundation for subsequent development to find the truth. According to him, the progress of science rests on the principle of certainty and he sees skepticism as a basic tool to reach at the certainty. (Skirry, 2006) Descartes is a strong believer in the faculty of reasons to use it extensively to arrive at any conclusion in the life. He believes that reasoning is a gift provided by God to humans only. Animals are automated machines and they do not have mind. The reasons originate from the mind and the God has not given this to any other animal so human being must make use of it to find the truth. (Discourses from Rene Descartes, 2005) Comparing and Contrasting the Ideas of Thomas Hobbes and Rene Descartes Hobbes described humans as machines; this is in stark contrast to Descartes’ view that nonhuman animals are machine. Nevertheless, there are certain similarities that can be noticed between these two philosophers. Both believed in scientific ways and means to discover the truth. Hobbes doubted on human powers of reasoning and judgment and believed that it can be overcome through science what he called as reliable knowledge of future. He believed in a methodology which is centered on deduction from self evidence. That is where he resembles Descartes who being a die-hard scientist and mathematician approached the issues on the basis of deductions. Descartes' phrase "I think, therefore I am" (Hatfield, 2011) are the popular words from where he developed a system of knowledge about people and the world. On the question of dissimilarity between them, it is a fact that Hobbes disagreed with Descartes on many points (Sommerville, 1992); however, he did like Descartes on building a system of knowledge based on the conclusions derived from geometry. Hobbes stressed only on the matter or body contrasting Descartes whose writings revolved around mind distinct from body. Hobbes’ stress on materialism is well known as he said everything is matter but Descartes differed here as he called body and mind as two distinct objects. According to Hobbes, thoughts are also material objects caused by sense giving us all knowledge. This is in contrast to the view proposed by Descartes who says that true knowledge is given by mind and not senses. Descartes' views do not go against Christianity at all as he brings in the God in his writings. Descartes views carry an element of spiritualism contrasting Hobbes views propagating pure materialism. Conclusion Despite disagreement between them on many aspects, Hobbes and Descartes both have left an indelible mark on the various aspects of life. Descartes’ contribution has been more on the aspects of dualism, modern philosophy, metaphysics, science and mathematics, while Hobbes has been more vocal on the aspects of morals, ethics, and political setup. They were stalwarts in their own right during the chaotic period of seventeenth century and were able to guide humans to progress toward peace, harmony, and truth. References 1. Williams, G. (2005), Hobbes: Moral and Political Philosophy, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, retrieved December 17, 2011 from, http://www.iep.utm.edu/hobmoral/ 2. Skirry, J. (2006), Rene Descartes: The Mind-Body Distinction (2005), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, retrieved December 18, 2011 from, http://www.iep.utm.edu/descmind/, 3. Discourses from Rene Descartes (2005), retrieved December 18, 2011 from, http://www.literature.org/authors/descartes-rene/reason-discourse/chapter-02.html, 4. Finn, S (2008), Hobbes: Methodology, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, retrieved December 17, 2011 from, http://www.iep.utm.edu/hobmeth/ 5. Sommerville, J. (1992), Thomas Hobbes: Science, Politics, and the State of Nature, retrieved December 17, 2011 from, http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/283/283%20session05.htm 6. Hatfield, G (2011),"Rene Descartes", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), retrieved December 17, 2011 from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2011/entries/descartes/ Read More