A revised Hobbesian argument for conflict among humans
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Thomas Hobbes believed that a state of nature (that is, a state without a society) is a miserable condition for humans because human individuals have a natural inclination to fight each other. In addition, Hobbes argued that the only way to prevent humans from fighting each other is to have a power to "keep them in awe". This is Hobbes' argument for absolutism. In my Master's thesis, I will reconstruct Hobbes' argument for the claim that human individuals have a natural inclination to fight each other. Then, I will criticize that argument by rejecting the third premise and the conclusion. Finally, I will argue that human groups have a natural inclination to fight each other. This new argument is a Hobbesian-inspired argument that is focused on conflict between human groups instead of being focused on conflict between human individuals, and this argument is important because it can be used to revive Hobbes' argument for absolutism.
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M.A.