Hobbe's Notion of Absolute Government - Essay Example

Thomas Hobbes remains one of the most important figures in the history of modern philosophy, and is best remembered for the employment of the theory of the social contract to explain the nature and origin of government as emanating from a ‘state of nature'.... Rebellion against government, thus, is explicitly wrong, not only because it is destined to fail, but also because it sets a poor example (Russell, 2004, p.... Any other means of resistance to government is culpable....

A paradigm shift occurs when the accepted notions about a given subject or theory (absolutism in this case) become disfavored, in the favor of a new way of doing things or a new notion of the way in which things are done.... Generally, the Enlightenment meant an embrace of more humanist and rational ideals, reflected in various forms of government and philosophy, as well as religion, which was inextricably linked to these other factors.... ?? (Censer, ENLIGHTENMENT Introduction Generally, the Enlightenment meant an embrace of more humanist and rational ideals, reflected in various forms of government and philosophy, as well as religion, which was inextricably linked to these other factors....

The government, according to Locke, should consist of people responsible for observing the laws, the latter being introduced for preserving general freedom and welfare.... The state (government) acquires the right to issue laws (legislative power), punish for crimes (executive power) and deal with the state's external enemies (the right for war and peace)....

The author of the paper "Thomas Hobbes' Theory about State and Power in Leviathan"  believes that a sharing of power would be a more effective way to bring about stability in society while Hobbes stated the best way to control a rational egoist society is to transfer power to a central authority who will coerce people into a modicum of stability....

For instance, childhood memories, or knowledge that scissors could cut paper, or that burger patties are made from pork or beef meat are examples of absolute knowledge because these are knowledge that a person knows with absolute certainty as truths because he has experienced it personally or has remembered witnessing it being done.... nbsp; Prudential knowledge is nothing more but the sense, faculty, and memory, and absolute knowledge.... And by 'absolute', Hobbes meant reality that a person knows as truth with 'absolute' certainty (Hobbes 53)....

Politics is not similar to science because of the absence of absolute rules and regulations for how to attain and maintain authority.... Politics and religion were distinct in the sense that people in ancient Rome were not godly and absolute in anyway but they are still in a position to provide vital insight in how people operated....

This paper "Hobbes and Rousseau on the Creation of Political Authority" discusses the ideas of Hobbes and Rousseau that are both valuable since Hobbes lays down the foundations of why governments are necessary and how a government should be established to protect the governed.... To function as an accepted power, the authority must be a 'Leviathan' which represents absolute power within that group....

Thus, continuing this idea, one might point out that the notion of privacy in the social environment is ephemeral since from the very beginning people knew that they had to sacrifice it.... The author of this paper "The Relationship between Science and Ethics" provides the discussion of the views of two widely known philosophers on the nature of government as well as the role it plays in the lives of the people and projects these ideas on the issue of surveillance....