PHIL 100W Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Summum Bonum, Summum, Scientific Method
17 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
Hobbes"s view of human nature presents a challenge to key aristotelian tenets: human beings are not naturally social or poliical, nature is not a source of moral standards. Nothing is just by nature: there is no such thing as the highest good (summum bonum) but worst evil (summum malum) We want others to have the esteem for us that we have for ourselves. Even if we band together for selish reasons, we may get things done but we do have some genuine care for others as well. In the state of nature, there is no law, and thus no injusice. According to hobbes, law and jusice are purely convenional. Because there is no law, there is no property. Although we are not social by nature, we desire peace because we fear death, desire by a decent quality of life, and hope to obtain a decent quality of life through our labour.
