These words are often cited as being an example of just how bad life was in 1651 when they were published by Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679.
But they are usually misused and misunderstood. Hobbes was not some kind of depressed seventeenth century gloom and doom chappie. No, he was something of an optimist!
What we was saying is that if Society does not exist, if we were not civil in society and had no rules, no way of living, no rights or responsibilities, then the life of man would become.... nasty, brutish and short.
Central to his figure of how this Society should work was the monarch because he believed that only through having a monarch could we ensure that men did not 'squabble between themselves'. He viewed mankind as self centred and having little concept of right from wrong. This, he reasoned was why we needed a Monarch, God and Society !
But they are usually misused and misunderstood. Hobbes was not some kind of depressed seventeenth century gloom and doom chappie. No, he was something of an optimist!
What we was saying is that if Society does not exist, if we were not civil in society and had no rules, no way of living, no rights or responsibilities, then the life of man would become.... nasty, brutish and short.
Central to his figure of how this Society should work was the monarch because he believed that only through having a monarch could we ensure that men did not 'squabble between themselves'. He viewed mankind as self centred and having little concept of right from wrong. This, he reasoned was why we needed a Monarch, God and Society !
