Hobbes, Xocke and Astell : Dialogue and Polemics
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Date
2006
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Université Mouloud Mammeri Tizi-Ouzou
Abstract
Seventeenth century political philosophy sanctioned the institution of the Monarchy of Divine Rights and secular absolutism. Though the 1215 Magna Carta and the 1628 pétition voted by Pariiament, (Cf. Marx, 1972: 11; 115) limited somehow the power of kings, the support of absolute governmental power prevailed. It found expression in Sir Robert Filmers Patriarcha (1680) and Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan (1651). Filmer relied on Scripture to justify kingly power as ordained by God whereas Hobbes argued that conferring power sovereignty in one, a monarch or an assembly. would put an end to the primitive jingoism’ and transgressions that prevailed in Engiish society of his time. a period of conflict between the supporters of the royalist cause and the pariiamentary advocates. According to Hobbes, belligerents are comparable to the uncivilised people of the state of “mere nature" which was characterised by warfare and misery.
Hobbes's thesis was challenged by John Locke in his Second Treatise on Government wherein the State of nature is an idéal one because men were born equal and free, with an endowment of natural reason. Unlike Hobbes's hordes, the people in Locke’s state of nature can govem themselves without transgressing the limits set by the natural law.
Given these considérations, Hobbes offered a “social contracf theory in which the citizens surrender ail their rights to an absolute sovereign in return for the préservation of their lives. Locke provided a plan for limited govemment with people's
reserve to rébellion. In his version of the social contract, Locke extended the natural rights of property, life and freedom into the civil govemment from whose he demanded protection in exchange of the surrender of some liberties. Yet Locke's Enlightenment philosophy is inscribed in a male frame of référencé and overlooks what he deems the female species.
In this dissertation which is composed of three chapters, we propose to discuss. through a comparison. two models of governmènt as they find expression in Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan and John Locke’s Second treatise on Govemment. We start from the hypothesis that these two documents were meant to sustain and/reform the then current forms of govemment for the general goûd of the "commonwealth". The first chapter outlines the most important aspects of the history, culture, and politics of seventeenth century England. The second chapter attempts a comparison between the works cited above in order to bring to the fore the debate in ideas as far as the construction of an idéal "commonwealth" is concerned. Our final argument in this chapter is that the Lockean model of govemment displaces the Hobbesian one partly because of Locke’s advocating individual rights, and partly because his historical documentation has a vantage point against hobbes's imaginary State of nature and the artificiality of his Leviathan".
The last chapter continues the Enlightenment debate. In order to check the universality of Lockean paradigm. we hâve compared his essay with Mary Astell’s Some Reflections Upon Marnage!By shirting the discussion from the high sphère of govemment to that of the household, we hâve identified inconsistencies in Locke's
essay and hâve consequently revised the conclusion we hâve reached in the previous chapter.
Throughout our discussion, we hâve borrowed Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of dialogism which he expounded in two books of his: The dialogic Imagination (1992) and La poétique de Dostoïevski (1970) as well as feminist criticism. Our justification for the appropriation of Bakhtin’s theory lies in the essay form of the two works and Bakhtins statement thaï “the Enlightenment was always struggling against authoritarian conception; The authoritarian conception for Locke is the absolutist power of the reign of James II. For Astell. it refers to patriarchal paternaiism as it finds
substantiation in Locke himself.
Description
131p.; 30cm. + (CD-Rom)
Keywords
Dialogue, Polemics, Hobbes Xocke, Astell
Citation
Civilisation