Thomas Hobbes

July 26 - July 27

We studied Thomas Hobbes and his idea for two days this week. In class, we usually listen to the lecture from 9:40 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. And we take 10 minutes break. After that, sometimes we make 3 or 4 groups and talk about the reading quiz which the instructor gives us. For the other days, we continue to listen to the lecture. He uses projection equipment, OHP, to show his lecture note to the students. So, we are feeling frustration to write down his memo on our notebooks as fast as possible. There are lots of things to copy. It is really hard to listen his talking carefully and writing down at the same time though it is good exercise to improve my English skill.

Let’s go back to the topic about Hobbes.
His interest is Realism which observes what we are, not what we ought to be. Like Plato, he also considered how politics ought to be understood, organized, or altered. But the big difference between two of them is whether focusing on an ideal state or focusing the real state. The latter is Hobbes’ view. The key word we have to keep in mind all the time when we read his books is “fear.” Fear lies in his every single concept because his emotion was filled with fear every time because of English Civil War (1642-1649).

Have you ever heard of following phrase? “Every man, against every man.” His striking concept is that people will inevitably be in a state of war unless we live in under government. In other words, he says that we will kill each other if there is no government.

As well as him, the philosophers whom we will deal with during the course argue how people would behave in absence of government. For Hobbes, he says that we are allowed to fight one another for self-preservation. There exists a war because of three of conflict among man. First one is competition for property, stuff, and gain. Second one is diffidence which comes from fear for our conservation. Third one is glory which comes from concern for reputation.
This, he says citizens should give up all of their rights to one person called sovereign. To do so, he says, we can stay alive and live a peaceful life.

By the way, I found that there is a man who came from Guam, and one man from Filliping, and one woman from Ethiopia. As you know now, this is one of the differences between a school in the US and that of Japan. And one more big difference is that some students speak up their mind or questions in class. They never hesitate to expose their thinking or questions. The instructor seems to be a little puzzled their relentless questions.

*The picture on the left side:I took this picture in the HUB where most students have a lunch. You can eat pizza, salad,chinese food, and hot dogs or hamburgers at Subway.

*The picture on the right side: You can see Mount Rainer from the University on a sunny day.