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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Leviathan, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Nature, War, and Civil Society
Power, Common-wealths, and Monarchies
Religion
Fear
Reason, Fact, and Philosophy
Summary
Analysis
Power is the means one has to “obtain some future apparent Good,” and power can be either natural or instrumental. Natural power is that which comes from the mind or body, like strength or prudence. Instrumental powers are those powers acquired by natural power or by fortune, such as wealth, friends, or “the secret working of God, which men call Good Luck.” The greatest power is the compounded power of several people united as one civil power, as it is in a common-wealth.
Power is the main idea behind the invention of the common-wealth. By joining together and combining their individual power, a common-wealth is better situated to defend itself from other larger powers that one might not be able to fight off individually. As any one person’s power will always be limited, the combining of power is the only way to grow.
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To have friends, servants, and family is power, as there is strength and power in united people of any number. Wealth combined with freedom is power, because wealth and freedom lead to friends and servants; however, wealth without freedom is not power, as it exposes people to envy and jealousy. One’s reputation is power, and so is love for one’s country, but the sciences are “small Power.” Arts for public use and defense, such as the production of engines and war instruments, are power. Science is the “true Mother” of the arts (mostly mathematics), but since science is brought to light “by the hand of the Artificer,” its power is small.
The sciences are “small Power” because the sciences are not rooted in fact and are therefore uncertain. Mathematics are the “true Mother” of the arts because it is based on irrefutable numbers that do not change and does not rely on assumptions. Science, according to Hobbes, is only as good as the philosopher who studies it because science is brought to light “by the hand of the Artificer.”
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The value of a person is equivalent to the worth of their power, which is dependent on the judgement of other people and is not absolute. One’s value manifests in either honor or dishonor, and one’s public worth—that being their value in the eyes of the common-wealth—is known as dignity. To pray for someone is to honor them and so is to obey them. Conversely, to disobey another is to dishonor them. To praise another, speak to them considerately, or trust them is to honor them, and to refuse such things is a dishonor.
To dishonor someone or something in the form of disobeying them is central to Hobbes’s argument, which explores power and authority figures in both religion and civil society. According to Hobbes, God commanded the people to obey their “Earthly Masters,” which means disobeying one’s sovereign power is tantamount to disobeying, and therefore dishonoring, God.
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Agreeing with another’s opinion is to honor them, and to disagree is to dishonor them. Honor and dishonor occur within a common-wealth just as they do outside a common-wealth; however, the common-wealth has the authority to decide what is honorable or not. A sovereign can honor a citizen with a specific title or office, and dominion and victory over others is considered honorable. Lasting good fortune is also considered honorable and is thought to be a sign of God’s favor.
The common-wealth decides what is honorable or not through the passing of laws. If something is against the law, it is considered immoral and therefore bad, and to break such a law is a dishonor. In nature, there is no centralized power to make such determinations.
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Actions coming from experience, discretion, wit, and science are honorable, as each of these are a form of power. Actions that come from a desire for equity are honorable, whereas opposite actions, like disregard of equality, are dishonorable. Greed for wealth and ambition for honor is in itself honorable, as long as one has the power to obtain them. Greed and ambition with no means for gain is dishonorable.
In the absence of a centralized power, as there is in nature, honor is based on power and equality. In Hobbes’s theory, it is not dishonorable to be a pirate, for example, and steal and pillage for wealth, as long as such behavior is not against some established law and the wealth is thought to be obtainable.
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Coats of Arms and one’s hereditary connections are also power, as such connections imply wealth and privilege. This honor, bestowed upon one by a common-wealth, is known as Gentry, and it includes the titles of Duke, Count, Marquis, and Baron. One’s worthiness is different from their value or worth and consists of their abilities, which are known as one’s aptitude or fitness. According to Hobbes, one can be worthy of wealth or a certain honorable office but lack the merit to deserve said wealth or office. “For Merit,” Hobbes says, “præsupposeth a right,” which he will discuss more in the chapter on contracts.
Hobbes is a royalist, and he supports a monarch’s right to rule absolutely. He also supports the line of royal succession, which establishes an eternal line of worthiness for the crown. One does not have a right to be a monarch simply because they are honorable and wealthy—they must also merit that power through royal succession and blood lines.
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