The Evolution of Bourgeois Politics in 17th Century England: Insights from Hobbes and Locke
The Beginning of Bourgeois Politics
17
th
Century Eng: Hobbes and Locke
•
The
new class of bourgeoisie and the king were
allies in the initial days of capitalist mode of
production to fight out the feudal order
and to
hasten the process of social transformation.
•
But
once the social transformation in the
direction of capitalism was made visible
(and the
bourgeoisie assumed distinctly the role of a
capitalist class) the
bourgeoisie made the royal
power the new target of their attack.
•
Two Revolutions:
i.
1641-Puritan Revolution
(bloody revolution)
ii.
1688-the Glorious Revolution
(a bloodless
revolution)
The Puritan Revolution
•
The Puritan Revolution in England really
began with
the convening of the Long Parliament in Nov, 1640
(long because not dissolved for 12 years).
•
Puritans were a band of religious dissenters
who were
in majority in the Parliament.
Beneath the veneer of
their spiritual enthusiasm there lay a distinct class
interest.
•
So Puritan Revolution was the
first successful
bourgeois revolution in England.
•
1588- Spanish Armada-England’s victory over Spain
and the initial consolidation of the English
bourgeoisie
was completed by 1588. This signified the
role of English merchant class English naval power.
Hobbesian Approach to Politics
•
Hobbesian approach to politics was derived from
Machiavelli
and the
core of his theoretical content was
drawn from Bodin.
•
With his secular approach to politics Machiavelli took care
of the perspective of bourgeois political theory but failed to
furnish with a proper content.
•
By formulating
a theory of the state and by giving focus on
sovereignty as the fundamental ingredient of the state it
was Bodin who sought to fill this gap
and thus pointed the
direction in which future political theory would evolve.
•
But
the corresponding problem of political obedience a
neat solution of which might alone place the sovereignty
of the state on a firmer foundation somehow escaped his
attention.
Hobbes steps in here.
Hobbes’ Fundamental Issues of Politics
•
Following Machiavelli he
placed politics on a
materialist foundation and then went on to theorize
not simply on the bourgeois man but on the
bourgeois society as well.
•
Hobbes revived the
Aristotelian tradition
of dealing
with
the fundamental issues of politics.
It can rightly
be argued that modern systematic political theory,
indeed, begins with Hobbes.
•
He
deals with things strictly political and furnishes
well-reasoned answers to questions that have ever
remained vital issues
in the province of politics.
Hobbes’ Fundamental…(contd.)
•
Why do people at all need state and government;
•
What again is the basis of their functioning; and,
further,
•
Why and how people living under the state and
government are to remain loyal to them are the three
fundamental questions
that receive most of Hobbes’
attention.
•
For answering these questions
Hobbes turns neither to
theology nor to history.
Indeed, he
chooses to rely on
hypothesis.
This hypothesis is about the
state of
nature- a condition that, he feels, alone explains the
emergence of civilized society and government and
the basis of their working.
Hobbes’ Methodology-Hypothetical
State of Nature
•
Civilized state and government came into existence due
to a
deliberate human choice expressed through the
making of the contract.
The people are obliged to give
the sovereign authority their
unconditional and
perpetual obedience.
•
But on the other hand, the
sovereign authority is free
to exercise an unlimited power,
others having no right
to curb it.
•
Law is nothing but his formal command.
The
sovereign alone has the right to make and repeal laws,
but
he himself is very much above it.
Hobbes’ Methodology…(contd.)
•
The whole of Hobbes’
political theory rests upon his
assumption about a set of conditions prevailing in the
state of nature.
•
Since he takes the state of nature
as nothing more
than a logical hypothesis necessary for constructing
his political theory Hobbes does not care for its
historicity.
It has
only methodological uses
for him.
•
Hobbes’ philosophy was
influenced by both Galileo
(Law of Uniform Motion) and Euclid (47
th
Proposition).
So a
synthesis between contemporary
scientific knowledge and traditional geometrical
method.
•
This explains Hobbes’ reliance on the state of nature as
a
useful step toward an understanding of the nature
and necessity of society and government.
Hobbes’ Axiomatic Method: A
Methodological Base of His Philosophy
•
The
axiomatic method in geometrical reasoning-the
method of starting from self-evident assumptions to
arrive at knowledge that is far from self-evident-
appealed to him.
•
Thus, he decided to make this axiomatic method a
methodological base of his philosophy in so far as he
was left convinced that
to know a thing it is necessary
to begin with some non-verifiable hypothesis.
•
After setting the methodological base Hobbes
proceeded to formulate his philosophical principles
by making a good use of Galileo’s law of uniform
motion.
Hobbes’ Materialistic View of the
Universe
•
Hobbes rested his philosophy on a
materialistic view
of the universe.
The
whole mass of things in the
world represented matter alone
and Hobbes chose to
look at this matter
in terms of Galileo’s law of uniform
motion.
•
An object in motion would stay in motion perpetually
until something else stopped it. We are capable of
knowing a thing just because it is set in motion.
•
Objects in motion around us strike our sense organs
and cause further motions within us
. It is these
internal motions that we perceive as sensations
which, again, are the source of our knowledge.
Hobbes’ Doctrine of Causality
•
Hobbes’
doctrine of causality
is another important
component of his philosophy which follows from
Hobbes’ theory of motion.
•
If
the knowledgeable world
is in motion, then certainly
it
has its before and after (cause and effect)
and
every
after represents a movement away from its before
and, therefore, is invariably an effect of the latter.
•
Therefore,
his hypothesis- the state of nature is not
anything accidental or erratic but it actually logically
follows from his laws of motion, his doctrine of
causality and his axiomatic method.
Cause of Human Society and State
•
To know/identify the cause of human society and
state
history does not help very much in locating
the point at which the society and state of man
came into existence.
•
Hobbes
cannot take shelter in theology because
of his materialistic view.
He cannot take help
from metaphysics either.
•
As
under the influence of geometry he has
already taken axiom as the important
instrument of knowledge Hobbes clings on to
the hypothetical state of nature.
A Revolution in Western Politics
•
Hobbesian theory constructed on the foundation of
this state of nature
brings in a revolution in Western
politics.
There are
several reasons
for this to be
termed a revolution.
i.
In the first place, Hobbes
rejects outright the
theological or metaphysical foundation of politics.
He
rejects the theory of divine rights
and states
without any ambiguity that man’s
society, state and
government are all his deliberate creation
for his
own convenience.
ii.
Secondly, at Hobbes’ hands
politics for the first time,
becomes a science.
Politics is
not merely given a
purely secular character but a scientific character
as
well (good use of scientific assumptions).
A Revolution…(contd.)
iii. Thirdly, in Hobbes’ theory
politics is clearly given a
rational foundation (triumph of human reason).
To
him the emergence of society and state means a
triumph of human reason.
Society and state are
shown to be the result of a contract.
Although it
was a contract made by frightened human beings
they could make it possible just because they
chose
to obey the dictates of reason.
•
Society without this reason means chaos and
destruction.
For Hobbes
reason, ultimately, is the
arbiter in politics.
The Question of Authority and
Obedience
•
It is very important that long after Aristotle, Hobbes
again
picks up the question of authority and
obedience as the core problem of politics
and treats it
in a way hitherto unknown in European political
thought.
•
He feels that in the
interest of stability and
permanence of the social order,
the most important
thing needed is
absolute political sovereignty
and he
derives its rationale not from any moral, religious or
metaphysical argument, but
strictly in the light of
what he considers to be the bare facts of life.
•
Here Hobbes’ argument is that the
state will be all-
powerful and subjects must gracefully submit to it
just because this submission happens to be the
price of
their orderly civilized living.
Prudential and Rational Political
Obligation
•
It is naturally a kind of political obligation based on
considerations of expediency and hence it is clearly a
prudential political obligation
in view of the fact that
the disadvantages of disobedience are too great to
bear.
•
Yet it is
a rational obligation in that it is not out of any
momentary impulse,
but as a result of a well-reasoned
calculation.
•
But, in any case, it is
not a moral obligation of the type
envisaged by Aristotle
for, unlike the latter, Hobbes
never suggests that obedience to authority is meant to
bring one’s moral improvement.
A Moral Obligation by Implication
•
Arguments may, however, be stretched to show that
Hobbes’ obligation is,
by implication, a moral
obligation as well.
•
For instance,
if conditions of civilized living are taken
to be the necessary prerequisites for man’s moral
betterment, then, Hobbes’ sovereign ensuring these
conditions must be viewed as an instrument of moral
progress
and in that case
obedience to this authority
may be shown to be determined by a moral cause
.
•
But, no matter whether it is a prudential or moral
obligation, the fact remains that Hobbes very seriously
takes the problem of political obligation and tries to
give a
clear and unambiguous answer to this
question.
Absolute Sovereignty
•
Hobbes realizes that to talk about absolute sovereignty
is not enough. It is also very important to devise
suitable means through which this idea of absolute
sovereignty may be given effect to.
•
That is why he conceives of
law as nothing but the
command of the state and puts the sovereign
authority much above this law.
Hobbes is
convinced
that an orderly society thrives mainly on political
control
which has to be stabilized by making citizens
obey laws without grudge and grumble as their duty.
•
And, lastly, it is the intention of Hobbes to show that
the whole political arrangement is not arbitrarily
imposed by those who control it, but is rather the
result of a careful choice
exercised by those who
submit to it.
Absolute Sovereignty (contd.)
•
In other words, his point is that
the state, by
nature, is formidable political authority. By
nature, it is all-pervasive.
But, then, they
work just because
people living under them
have voluntarily consented to have such
things.
•
In this way, Hobbes
tries to effect a marriage
between force and consent.
Hobbes’ State of Nature: More than a
Methodological Tool
•
On a careful observation it can be noticed how the
state of things as assumed to be prevailing in the
state of nature virtually reflects the conditions of the
bourgeois society
in its early phase of development.
•
The
man as depicted in Hobbes’ state of nature is
essentially a bourgeois man frantically looking for
glory and gain at any cost, driven solely by the lust for
power
and by the fantastic
appetite for material
achievements.
•
A society comprising such egoistic individuals must be
a
society marked by fierce competition and struggle
that,
in the long run, might threaten its very survival
.
Hobbes’ State…(contd.)
•
In the bourgeois society
relations between men were
determined by the impersonal relations of the market
and,
therefore, were much more complex.
•
Unless these complex market relations were adequately
regulated they might bring in anarch
y as there was lack of a
built-in order and harmony in the capitalist society during this
initial phase.
•
Hence the bourgeoisie in the early phase
needed a sovereign
state to impose regulations
whereby their own operations
might assume a distinctly orderly shape.
•
Thus, by means of his political theory, Hobbes was trying to
give
a carefully devised political advice to the contemporary
bourgeoisie to grow only under the supervision of a sovereign
state.
•
But while he emphasized the need of political control he,
however,
could not spell out on questions like who and in
what manner would wield this political control.
The emergence of bourgeois politics in 17th century England marked a significant shift in power dynamics as capitalism began to take hold. The bourgeoisie initially allied with the monarchy to overthrow the feudal order but later turned against the royal power. The Puritan Revolution and the Glorious Revolution were key events during this period, signaling the rise of the capitalist class. This era also saw the development of Hobbesian political theory, which laid the foundation for modern systematic political thought by addressing fundamental questions about the state, government, and societal loyalty.
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Presentation Transcript
The Beginning of Bourgeois Politics 17thCentury Eng: Hobbes and Locke The new class of bourgeoisie and the king were allies in the initial days of capitalist mode of production to fight out the feudal order and to hasten the process of social transformation. But once the social transformation in the direction of capitalism was made visible (and the bourgeoisie assumed distinctly the role of a capitalist class) the bourgeoisie made the royal power the new target of their attack. Two Revolutions: i. 1641-Puritan Revolution (bloody revolution) ii. 1688-the Glorious Revolution (a bloodless revolution)
The Puritan Revolution The Puritan Revolution in England really began with the convening of the Long Parliament in Nov, 1640 (long because not dissolved for 12 years). Puritans were a band of religious dissenters who were in majority in the Parliament. Beneath the veneer of their spiritual enthusiasm there lay a distinct class interest. So Puritan Revolution was the first successful bourgeois revolution in England. 1588- Spanish Armada-England s victory over Spain and the initial consolidation of the English bourgeoisie was completed by 1588. This signified the role of English merchant class English naval power.
Hobbesian Approach to Politics Hobbesian approach to politics was derived from Machiavelli and the core of his theoretical content was drawn from Bodin. With his secular approach to politics Machiavelli took care of the perspective of bourgeois political theory but failed to furnish with a proper content. By formulating a theory of the state and by giving focus on sovereignty as the fundamental ingredient of the state it was Bodin who sought to fill this gap and thus pointed the direction in which future political theory would evolve. But the corresponding problem of political obedience a neat solution of which might alone place the sovereignty of the state on a firmer foundation somehow escaped his attention. Hobbes steps in here.
Hobbes Fundamental Issues of Politics Following Machiavelli he placed politics on a materialist foundation and then went on to theorize not simply on the bourgeois man but on the bourgeois society as well. Hobbes revived the Aristotelian tradition of dealing with the fundamental issues of politics. It can rightly be argued that modern systematic political theory, indeed, begins with Hobbes. He deals with things strictly political and furnishes well-reasoned answers to questions that have ever remained vital issues in the province of politics.
Hobbes Fundamental(contd.) Why do people at all need state and government; What again is the basis of their functioning; and, further, Why and how people living under the state and government are to remain loyal to them are the three fundamental questions that receive most of Hobbes attention. For answering these questions Hobbes turns neither to theology nor to history. Indeed, he chooses to rely on hypothesis. This hypothesis is about the state of nature- a condition that, he feels, alone explains the emergence of civilized society and government and the basis of their working.
Hobbes Methodology-Hypothetical State of Nature Civilized state and government came into existence due to a deliberate human choice expressed through the making of the contract. The people are obliged to give the sovereign authority their unconditional and perpetual obedience. But on the other hand, the sovereign authority is free to exercise an unlimited power, others having no right to curb it. Law is nothing but his formal command. The sovereign alone has the right to make and repeal laws, but he himself is very much above it.
Hobbes Methodology(contd.) The whole of Hobbes political theory rests upon his assumption about a set of conditions prevailing in the state of nature. Since he takes the state of nature as nothing more than a logical hypothesis necessary for constructing his political theory Hobbes does not care for its historicity. It has only methodological uses for him. Hobbes philosophy was influenced by both Galileo (Law of Uniform Motion) and Euclid (47th Proposition). So a synthesis between contemporary scientific knowledge and traditional geometrical method. This explains Hobbes reliance on the state of nature as a useful step toward an understanding of the nature and necessity of society and government.
Hobbes Axiomatic Method: A Methodological Base of His Philosophy The axiomatic method in geometrical reasoning-the method of starting from self-evident assumptions to arrive at knowledge that is far from self-evident- appealed to him. Thus, he decided to make this axiomatic method a methodological base of his philosophy in so far as he was left convinced that to know a thing it is necessary to begin with some non-verifiable hypothesis. After setting the methodological base Hobbes proceeded to formulate his philosophical principles by making a good use of Galileo s law of uniform motion.
Hobbes Materialistic View of the Universe Hobbes rested his philosophy on a materialistic view of the universe. The whole mass of things in the world represented matter alone and Hobbes chose to look at this matter in terms of Galileo s law of uniform motion. An object in motion would stay in motion perpetually until something else stopped it. We are capable of knowing a thing just because it is set in motion. Objects in motion around us strike our sense organs and cause further motions within us. It is these internal motions that we perceive as sensations which, again, are the source of our knowledge.
Hobbes Doctrine of Causality Hobbes doctrine of causality is another important component of his philosophy which follows from Hobbes theory of motion. If the knowledgeable world is in motion, then certainly it has its before and after (cause and effect) and every after represents a movement away from its before and, therefore, is invariably an effect of the latter. Therefore, his hypothesis- the state of nature is not anything accidental or erratic but it actually logically follows from his laws of motion, his doctrine of causality and his axiomatic method.
Cause of Human Society and State To know/identify the cause of human society and state history does not help very much in locating the point at which the society and state of man came into existence. Hobbes cannot take shelter in theology because of his materialistic view. He cannot take help from metaphysics either. As under the influence of geometry he has already taken axiom as the important instrument of knowledge Hobbes clings on to the hypothetical state of nature.
A Revolution in Western Politics Hobbesian theory constructed on the foundation of this state of nature brings in a revolution in Western politics. There are several reasons for this to be termed a revolution. i. In the first place, Hobbes rejects outright the theological or metaphysical foundation of politics. He rejects the theory of divine rights and states without any ambiguity that man s society, state and government are all his deliberate creation for his own convenience. ii. Secondly, at Hobbes hands politics for the first time, becomes a science. Politics is not merely given a purely secular character but a scientific character as well (good use of scientific assumptions).
A Revolution(contd.) iii. Thirdly, in Hobbes theory politics is clearly given a rational foundation (triumph of human reason). To him the emergence of society and state means a triumph of human reason. Society and state are shown to be the result of a contract. Although it was a contract made by frightened human beings they could make it possible just because they chose to obey the dictates of reason. Society without this reason means chaos and destruction. For Hobbes reason, ultimately, is the arbiter in politics.
The Question of Authority and Obedience It is very important that long after Aristotle, Hobbes again picks up the question of authority and obedience as the core problem of politics and treats it in a way hitherto unknown in European political thought. He feels that in the interest of stability and permanence of the social order, the most important thing needed is absolute political sovereignty and he derives its rationale not from any moral, religious or metaphysical argument, but strictly in the light of what he considers to be the bare facts of life. Here Hobbes argument is that the state will be all- powerful and subjects must gracefully submit to it just because this submission happens to be the price of their orderly civilized living.
Prudential and Rational Political Obligation It is naturally a kind of political obligation based on considerations of expediency and hence it is clearly a prudential political obligation in view of the fact that the disadvantages of disobedience are too great to bear. Yet it is a rational obligation in that it is not out of any momentary impulse, but as a result of a well-reasoned calculation. But, in any case, it is not a moral obligation of the type envisaged by Aristotle for, unlike the latter, Hobbes never suggests that obedience to authority is meant to bring one s moral improvement.
A Moral Obligation by Implication Arguments may, however, be stretched to show that Hobbes obligation is, by implication, a moral obligation as well. For instance, if conditions of civilized living are taken to be the necessary prerequisites for man s moral betterment, then, Hobbes sovereign ensuring these conditions must be viewed as an instrument of moral progress and in that case obedience to this authority may be shown to be determined by a moral cause. But, no matter whether it is a prudential or moral obligation, the fact remains that Hobbes very seriously takes the problem of political obligation and tries to give a clear and unambiguous answer to this question.
Absolute Sovereignty Hobbes realizes that to talk about absolute sovereignty is not enough. It is also very important to devise suitable means through which this idea of absolute sovereignty may be given effect to. That is why he conceives of law as nothing but the command of the state and puts the sovereign authority much above this law. Hobbes is convinced that an orderly society thrives mainly on political control which has to be stabilized by making citizens obey laws without grudge and grumble as their duty. And, lastly, it is the intention of Hobbes to show that the whole political arrangement is not arbitrarily imposed by those who control it, but is rather the result of a careful choice exercised by those who submit to it.
Absolute Sovereignty (contd.) In other words, his point is that the state, by nature, is formidable political authority. By nature, it is all-pervasive. But, then, they work just because people living under them have voluntarily consented to have such things. In this way, Hobbes tries to effect a marriage between force and consent.
Hobbes State of Nature: More than a Methodological Tool On a careful observation it can be noticed how the state of things as assumed to be prevailing in the state of nature virtually reflects the conditions of the bourgeois society in its early phase of development. The man as depicted in Hobbes state of nature is essentially a bourgeois man frantically looking for glory and gain at any cost, driven solely by the lust for power and by the fantastic appetite for material achievements. A society comprising such egoistic individuals must be a society marked by fierce competition and struggle that, in the long run, might threaten its very survival.
Hobbes State(contd.) In the bourgeois society relations between men were determined by the impersonal relations of the market and, therefore, were much more complex. Unless these complex market relations were adequately regulated they might bring in anarchy as there was lack of a built-in order and harmony in the capitalist society during this initial phase. Hence the bourgeoisie in the early phase needed a sovereign state to impose regulations whereby their own operations might assume a distinctly orderly shape. Thus, by means of his political theory, Hobbes was trying to give a carefully devised political advice to the contemporary bourgeoisie to grow only under the supervision of a sovereign state. But while he emphasized the need of political control he, however, could not spell out on questions like who and in what manner would wield this political control.
