Essay About Hobbes Descartes And Political Philosophy

Hobbes Descartes and the Science of Man
Essay title: Hobbes Descartes and the Science of Man
Hobbes, Descartes and the science of man
In this paper I intend to examine the political philosophy of
Thomas Hobbes and Rene Descartes, in particular their ideas
relating to the science of man, and attempt to explain why their ideas
prove that it is not possible to construct a science of man. I will also
briefly mention the philosophy of Donald Davidson in regards to a
science of man.
The theories of Hobbes and the contemporary socio-
biologists attempt to recognize how man works and on that basis
build a society. “Hobbes wished to be seen as the inventor of the
science of politics” (Sorell, p45) He went about this by looking at the
psychology of man and discovering that man is a mechanism.
Hobbes wanted to understand mechanics. He wanted to look at why
men live the way that they do in society and therefore, breaks it
down. By doing this he discovered that people are cogs in the social
machine. Therefore he wants to examine these cogs in order to
achieve an understanding of the social mechanism, and does this by
looking at the psychology of the mind. Hobbes is both an empirist
and a materialist. Empiricists believe that sense gives all knowledge.
Generally, they do not believe in astrology, god, electrons etc. Their
philosophy is summed up by saying that all things that give true
knowledge can be sensed. Materialists believe that all things in
existence are physical matter. In other words, the soul and the spirit
do not exist. Therefore Hobbes believes that thoughts are material,
that they are caused by sense and vice versa. Tom Sorell suggests
in his essay, entitled “Hobbes scheme of the sciences”, that rather
than have knowledge of how the mechanics of the minds passions
work, a more successful way of gaining political knowledge is to
understand what these passions cause. They cause various degrees
of action, with the possessor going to various extents to achieve
what they want.
In chapter six of “De Corpere”, Hobbes makes a connection
between the knowledge of the principles of politics and the
knowledge of the motions of the average human mind. Hobbes
account of political science is an idea of what man must do if his
goal is self-preservation. These ideas are not what mankind will do
but what it will have to do, in a rational way, to form a political
civilization. One would assume that as Hobbes identifies both a
natural science, and a civil science, he would suggest that they are
parallels which, in political philosophy, work together. However,
there are a few problems with Hobbes theory. Hobbes suggests that
a monarch makes a better sovereign than an assembly. Yet, surely
he would not agree that a monarch who is not dedicated would be
better suited than a group of thoughtful representatives. A politically
secure society is built up from its people. Hobbes believes that these