Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan shaped modern politics
I view philosophies as necessary stepping stones for better civilization. Just because we have already progressed beyond a given philosophy doesn&#x27;t mean it wasn&#x27;t a critical step on the path to where we are today. And such philosophies are still important in areas that are less advanced or regress.<p>Hobbes gets a bad rap because it sounds pretty horrible sitting in the peace and comfort of the 21st century. But we have to remember that the general attitude of &quot;I better kill him before he kills me&quot; (a kind of fear) has been the dominant cause of violence for most of human history. And there was an awful lot of that violence (read <i>The Better Angels of our Nature</i> by Pinker).<p>Even violence that seems gratuitous is often driven by this fear. A gang leader is essentially riding a tiger he can&#x27;t let go of, and must constantly generate fear to stay alive.<p>Hobbes identified this trap, and found an ingenious way out of it: redirect the fear to a third party. If I am less afraid of my neighbor than what the government will do to me if I kill my neighbor, then I won&#x27;t kill my neighbor. And if the government is vastly stronger than individuals, it will fear neither my neighbor nor I, so doesn&#x27;t need to constantly terrorize everyone going about their daily lives.<p>Then, violence drops low enough that people can think about things like voting or free speech. But voting and free speech make no sense in a world of violence and fear.