age of reason
In the 18th Century, Emmanuel Kant wrote his famous article concerning the question of the Enlightenment and what it meant for humanity. For Kant, the Enlightenment meant an awakening and maturity that would help humanity reach new heights. Also termed the Age of Reason, the Enlightenment brought with it many of the greatest political philosophers in history. One hundred years before Kant two of the most influential Enlightenment writers had wrote two of the most enduring works on the law of nature and nations. Although they never met and were from different countries, Hugo Grotius and Thomas Hobbes were contemporaries and set the foundation for future philosophical work in regards to laws, government, and nature that would greatly influence political thinkers for generations to come. Â Although both men were greatly influential their ideas were in opposition, they contrasted and represented completely different views of man which many have sought to reconcile. It is important to understand that Grotius and Hobbes were of different opinions which may not be reconcilable. They were two of the earliest political philosophers whose contributions to the field are invaluable. By their contributions many more generations of philosophers began to attempt to answer the questions which they themselves were the first in modern times to attempt to answer significantly.
Hugo Grotius was a great Dutch natural law philosopher who sought to base human relations in the law of nature that be believed existed. For Grotius man is a creature that is drawn to society; naturally man will seek out his own kind, he wants to live in a community, and he has a high degree of sociability, this is his state of nature. This natural inclination towards society and community means that man has a vested interest in maintaining relations and promoting justice. Because of this inclination towards maintaining a society and community Grotius believes that there are fundamental rules which man will naturally follow: abstaining from that which is anotherâs, promotion of restitution of what we have of anotherâs and the profit made off of it, keeping obligations and promises, repairing damages done to another, and seeking justice through the punishment of men. These laws he saw as natural and he believed man would follow them with no overt pressure to do so, in essence, they would do so because it was for their own and others well being.
For Hugo Grotius manâs natural inclination towards sociability ensures that these rules or laws will be promoted for the sake of community and society, Thomas Hobbesâ view is of the contrary. For Hobbes, man is not a social creature by nature that can be trusted to follow the rules simply by his affection for society. As one of the most influential political philosophers, the words of Hobbes have influenced many in recent history as to the state of nature and manâs and the governmentâs role in securing it. As a contrast to Hugo Grotius there can be none greater then Hobbes. Hobbesâ description of man in the state of nature is most famous and most telling of his ideas, â...during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called Warre; and such a warre, as is of every man, against every man...the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short. âThe commonality of man being that they will each do what is in their own best interests, and in most cases this means acting against each other. In the absence of a higher power they will use every means they have to secure for themselves whatever they wish; this is the law, in this absence they will take, steal, and murder. This view is fundamentally opposed to the âGrotianâ man who seeks his fellow man out to live in a community of shared and accepted rules.
Hobbes has a solution to the problem of the natural state of nature and man, being what he terms the Leviathan. To reach a more âGrotianâ society that is governed by law man must cede some of his natural rights to an overarching power to keep men from harming each other. The laws of nature for Hobbes include that man must endeavor for peace where he can and if he cannot attain it he is free to use all his abilities in war, and when presented with the opportunity to find peace he be willing to give up his freedoms to another (Leviathan) along with other men to ensure peace. How are these two accounts of the state of nature to be reconciled? Hobbes believed men will fight with one another unless they accept a ruler to impose order, Grotius believed the opposite, that men will naturally follow rules that allow them to participate in a community with other men.
There must be made, at this point, a differentiation of the meanings of âstate of natureâ and ânatural rights.â This is the divergent point between these two esteemed philosophers and this difference helps to alleviate the conflict between the two. A state of nature is that which exists before an imposition of laws, society, or government in the lives of man. From Hobbesâ work it can be said he believed that the state of nature is war, in Grotiusâ work it can be said he believed in manâs efforts towards sociability as the existing state of nature. âNatural rightsâ must be said to be the rights which are naturally imbued in man in this state of nature. For Hobbes these natural rights are the pursuit of peace, and when not possible to achieve everything is a natural right and therefore man enters into a state of war with one another. Grotius believed that these natural rights sprang forth from manâs state of nature as a sociable being, this being said, the aforementioned fundamental rules (abstention from what belongs to another, restoration of what belongs to another, etc.) form the basis of his belief that manâs natural rights are moral and sociably based. While Hobbes and Grotius are in disagreement over these fundamental principles, by this better understanding it is clear that perhaps reconciliation is not necessary. The answers to these two questions will continue to be discussed and studies up to the present day and for the foreseeable future.
Later philosophers like Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Hume and many more will continue to theorize the answers to manâs true state of nature and his natural rights. Some would agree with each other more than others, yet the original Enlightenment philosophers who tacked the question were Hobbes and Grotius. They have proved invaluable to the betterment of humanity, like Kant stated the Enlightenment would. From Hobbes is born modern social contract theory, the basis of which will go on to influence greatly Locke and Rousseau, and therefore the later French and American Revolutions. Grotius influenced modern theories of war, property, prizes, and justification for actions taken, or the basis of future international laws. These two minds aided in setting the foundations of modern, liberal, Western societies which we see today and the relations between them.
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