Laws of Nature and Obligation

Running head: ‘LAWS OF NATURE’ AND OBLIGATION
IN WHAT SENSE, IF AT ALL, ARE HOBBES’ LAWS OF NATURE A
SOURCE OF OBLIGATION?
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Author’s Note:

1‘LAWS OF NATURE’ AND OBLIGATION
“The life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. ... The condition of man ... is a
condition of war of everyone against everyone.”
The above quoted lines of Thomas Hobbes from his famous work “Leviathan” gives
an overview of the concept of ‘laws of nature’ which forms the central fulcrum of the
majority of his political works. As opined by Chou (2016), the notion of ‘laws of nature’ or
more commonly called by the names of ‘lex naturalis’, ‘ius naturale’ and others can be seen
as a genre of philosophy which states that certain unwritten rights or laws are being given to
the individuals naturally by virtue of their human nature and these are being endowed upon
them by the God or some other transcendent sources. On the other hand, Sim and Walker
(2017) are of the viewpoint that the natural laws are largely unwritten in nature unlike the
civil laws which are written down or documented and thereby the individuals are being
forced to follow by the governmental authorities and because of this they need to be
deciphered by the innate mental faculties of the individuals like reason, philosophy and
others. More importantly, it is seen that the natural laws affirm human self-preservation and
thereby repudiate all the actions or the activities which are destructive to human life or
reduces the quality of life that they lead (Courtland 2017). On the score of these, it can be
said that the natural laws are the general rules or the precepts which articulates the actions or
activities that the human beings are forbidden from committing that can lead to the
destruction of life or takes away the means of preserving the same. The purpose of this essay
is to analyse whether Hobbes’ laws of nature are a source of obligation or not.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), or Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, an English
philosopher, is often considered to be one of the major founders of the modern political
philosophy and as a matter of fact his different works laid the foundation for the same
(Curley 2017). Schröder (2016) is of the viewpoint that one of the best aspects of the work of
Hobbes is the fact that it encompasses a wide genre and thus in his works the readers are

2‘LAWS OF NATURE’ AND OBLIGATION
likely to gain insightful information regarding different subjects like philosophy, politics,
geometry, physics, jurisprudence, ethics, moral philosophy and others. This is important
because of the fact that during the 17th century the people had very rudimentary knowledge
regarding these subjects and the majority of the scholars were merely focusing on arts and
literature which were in vogue during this age (d'Entreves 2017). However, the philosophical
as well as the political works of Hobbes not only offered insightful information to the
common masses regarding these concepts but at the same time showed the importance of the
concepts that he discussed in his works well within the context of the 17th century
(Haakonssen 2016). More importantly, it is seen that the majority of his works are redolent
with the ideas of social contract theory, laws of nature, political ethics, morals and others and
as a matter of fact he is often considered to be one of the major contributors towards the
social contract theory (Darwall 2017). In this regard, it needs to be said that his Leviathan
(1651) is generally credited as the work which popularised the social contract theory and
because of this the extensive research works were conducted on the concerned concept in the
preceding ages (Slomp 2017).
Campbell (2016) has articulated the viewpoint that the work of Hobbes and the
different concepts like the social contract theory, laws of nature and others propounded by
him not only becomes important within the particular context of the age in which he lived but
at the same time the influence the age wielded on him. As a matter of fact, it was seen that the
age in which Hobbes lived was dominated by different kinds of political as well religious
struggles and this in turn made the works composed by him even more important. In this
regard, mention needs to be made of the religious conflict which followed immediately after
the Reformation in England, the ’30 Year War’ (1618-1648), the ‘English Civil War’ (1648-
1649) and others (Fuller 2019). This in turn created a doubt in the minds of the people
regarding the different societal constructs, religion or for that matter the national government

3‘LAWS OF NATURE’ AND OBLIGATION
itself. The resultant effect of this was that the people of England showed an ever-increasing
amount of curiosity to understand the rights that they possessed, the manner in which the
national government operated, the social contract which existed between the citizens and the
national government, the way in which the states were formed and others. Sim and Walker
(2017) are of the viewpoint that the prominence of the work of Hobbes lies in the fact that
they tried to explain the chaos that the concerned nation faced during the 17th century and also
the natural rights or the laws that the individuals possessed on the basis of their natural
existence.
Malcolm (2016) has articulated the viewpoint that the concept of natural laws had
been in existence since the traditional times and its existence can be traced to the ancient
Greek Age and its usage can even be found in the different works of Aristotle and other
famous scholars or the artists of the concerned age. In this regard, the prominence of the
works of Hobbes lies in the fact that he not only polished the concept of the natural laws but
at the same time categorised the different natural laws that the human beings are entitled to
by virtue of their natural existence (Höffe 2015). More importantly, he articulated the
viewpoint that the major source of the different natural laws that the human beings are
entitled are the God or other kinds of transcendence authorities. Hobbes categorised the
different natural laws that the human beings are entitled to by virtue of their existence into
numerous ‘laws of nature’. However, over the years a major debate had began which
consider the three natural laws propounded by Hobbes as a source of obligation towards the
national government or the society or for that matter towards the religious framework which
is being followed within a particular although Hobbes did not himself consciously intended
his natural laws to be any source of obligation for the individuals towards any kind of
authority or frameworks (Judd 2017). A detailed analysis of the numerous natural laws