Friday, February 21, 2020

Hobbes (15 88-1679) on the right to all Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hobbes (15 88-1679) on the right to all - Essay Example And therefore, as long as this natural right of every man to everything endureth, there can be no security to any man (how strong or wise so ever he be) of living out the time which nature ordinarily allowith men to live." (Leviathan, Chapter XIV). Hobbes supposes that liberty is a matter of political self-government. For Hobbes liberty and equality was connected with non-obstruction, and with some form of sell-mastery. Liberty and equality is described as that a personal reedom is a matter of the range of things a person may do without being stopped or punished by others. Hobbes supposes that "I find yet a greater equality amongst men than that of strength. For prudence is but experience, which equal time equally bestows on all men in those things they equally apply themselves unto (Leviathan, Chapter XIII). Someone who does not engage in elaborate calculations before acting may be said to be excessively irrational. Irrationality of value to the pursuit of self-interest is prudence, which is similarly a virtue that it is possible to have too much of. Each has the right to all because, according to Hobbes, there was nothing natural about the state; in the 'state of nature' men lived without law, without authority, and without any means of curbing one another's aggression. Each man is a self-governed and can do anything. In "Leviathan" Hobbes describes that it is irrational of anyone to lay down the means of his own preservation unless he can be sure others will do so too. The state of nature is also is the state of war which means absence of established agreement for peace. For Hobbes force is the main quality during war and people are foolish to expect anything better from foreign states. The state of nature is a social and developed state. It can be characterized as war of all against: "war...of every man, against every man" (Leviathan, Chapter XIV). Each will be an enemy to all the rest. Human beings as they were not equipped with speech, with reason, with a sense of time, with any morality; they were lonely. In the Chapter XIV Hobbes claims that there was one fundamental right of nature, and one equally fundamental law: the right was 'the Liberty each man hath, to use his own power, as he will himselfe, for the preservation of his own Nature', while the law was 'every man, ought to endeavour Peace, as farre as he has hope of obtaining it; and when he cannot obtain it... he may seek, and use, all helps, and advantages of Warre' (Leviathan, Chapter XIV). The concept of subjectivism is closely connected with individuality. Hobbes emphases qualitative variation among uniqueness, a conception of the cumulative and permanent, but not predetermined, development of larger contexts as a source for development, and an insistence on the irrationally founded subjective designs of historically particularized human actors as the principal plane upon which variation and development take place (subjectivism). Knowledge of the reality must be concrete and descriptive hermeneutic, It will avoid the search for universal natural laws, and it will recognize itself as an historical occurrence. Also subjectivism for Hobbes means obligations in individuality. Hobbes supposes that Irrationality can be predicated in the first instance of human beings and of human beliefs and actions. Absence of rationality is taken to warrant a diminution of legal

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Philosophy - Five faces of oppression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Philosophy - Five faces of oppression - Essay Example Young also offers a comprehensive understanding of oppression in its restricted appreciation since the existence of the oppressed does not necessarily imply the simultaneous existence of an oppressor. These five faces: Exploitation, Marginalization, Powerlessness, Cultural Imperialism and Violence are the main focus of the article. Exploitation can most vividly be designated in a Capitalist environment where labor is a means to propagate dominion. The evident injustice in the distribution of wealth among social classes is the main thrust of this category but it does not end there since social rules in work also define the inequality (Young, p.6). Defined as the most dangerous, Marginalization is best manifested with the material deprivation of one group over the others. Society has addressed this issue mainly by providing welfare dole outs and services to repress unrest among these people (ibid, p.9). Powerlessness is the lack of opportunity and respect that the oppressed suffer. â€Å"the powerless are situated so that they must take orders and rarely have the right to give them† (ibid, p.10). The imposition of dominance of one group over the others result to Cultural Imperialism since culture variations become a source of oppression through intolerance (ibid, p.10). Violence is an outward manifestatio n of systemic oppression where by the sole reason of belonging to a marginalized group, the members suffer this face of oppression. This is a recurring social practice and suggests degrees of perpetration (ibid, p.13). These five faces can be used as a gauge and as a way compare the level of oppression among the oppressed groups and the presence of any, as the author suggests, positively equates to