Hobbes argues in book 15, that the natural state of man is chaos and war, and that “every man aught to endeavor peace, as far as he hope of obtaining it”. He writes that we should follow the first and fundamental law of nature; “to seek peace, and follow it”. Not only does this warm the cockles of my pacifist heart, but it gained more respect for Hobbes in my eyes. Though he may be boring, some underlying ideas that he has are quite good. Ideas such as the “social contract” in which everyone basically says they will trust each other and protect their community from war, as well as his “second law of nature” where everyone essentially all agree to give up their things to “be contented with so much liberty against other men, as he would allow other men against himself.” Though Hobbes does not focus his work on pacifist ideology, I can appreciate his ideas and would like to think that if he lived in this day and age, he could agree with me that the world should focus on promoting peace, instead of having a fascination with violence, hyped-up masculinity, and lack of compassion for fellow human beings.
