Political Power, Morality and Justice: Critique of Thomas Hobbes’ Political Philosophy
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Date
2022-07-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to present critiques of Thomas Hobbes' political philosophy, with a particular emphasis on the theoretical analysis of meta-ethical beliefs. He observed that morality and justice are the commands that a political power holder or a sovereign issue to the people of a commonwealth. These are the questions that I addressed in my thesis: what are the critical concepts that Hobbes discussed how they can serve as the foundation for his moral beliefs, and what the weaknesses of his arguments are. The thesis introduces the concepts of moral cognitivism and non-moral cognitivism. Furthermore, it necessitates a critical examination of Hobbes' and moral prescriptivism, as well as Locke's and moral cognitivism. In the thesis, I conclude that Hobbes' belief in morality appears to be invalid because his assumptions about the state of nature, humans, natural law, the social contract, and the commonwealth are disconnected from some relevant grounds. The thesis contends that the natural origin of moral truth is. It also emphasizes that morality is a matter of the human conscience. As a result, it contends that morality is independent of the formation of a government. The thesis also recommends the agreement's necessity; that is, it is required for the establishment of a legitimate government as well as for a specific individual or social purpose. Regardless, no agreement should violate human rights or freedoms or contradict natural law.
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Thomas Hobbes, Morality, Political Power, Justice, Moral Prescriptivism, Meta Ethics, Cognitivism, Non-Cognitivism, State of Nature, Social Contract, Commonwealth, Sovereign, Natural Law