ECH 2310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Body Politic, Akrotiri And Dhekelia, Nominalism

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Conflict Studies and Human Rights
• Course: ECH 2310
• Professor: Michael Williams

Document Summary

Argues that civil peace and social unity are best achieved by the establishment of a commonwealth through social contract ideal commonwealth is ruled by a sovereign power. This sovereign power is responsible for protecting the security of the commonwealth and has absolute authority to ensure the common defense. Hobbes describes the commonwealth as an artificial person and as a body politic that mimics the human body. Portrays the commonwealth as a giganitic human form built out of the bodies of its citizens, the sovereign as its head (this figure is known as the leviathan a symbol that constitutes a perfect government) Hobbes states that every aspect of human nature can be understood from materialist principles (mentality, consciousness are identical with material interactions) the natural condition of mankind (known as the state of nature) is violent and constantly fearful. Every man against every man : people seek to destroy each other.