The Way to Freedom is Alone
In the 13th chapter of Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes writes "...men have no pleasure, but on the contrary a great deal of grief, in keeping company, where there is no power able to over-awe them all." The unconventional premise that ungoverned humans are solitary beings echoes throughout Hobbes' political philosophy. This is a very difficult ideology to have at the center of such a work. The vast majority of the world's population holds the opposite stance. Most people believe that humans are naturally communal beings. Thomas L. Pangle's Political Philosophy and the God of Abraham addresses man's natural inclination to be part of a group. "Birds fly in flocks, fish swim in schools, and man has his tribe. That is as natural as you can get." Banishment from one's tribe (once) meant death. Alone, one is assumed susceptible to the attack of foes. Being alone is largely equated with weakness. There is a commonly held fear of being alone. This is why the mindset found in Leviathan is quickly rejected. In order to understand what Hobbes attempts to communicate by stating "men have no pleasure...in keeping company," it is essential to establish his alternative to having company.
During Hobbes' time, religion was much more conservative than it is now. When one stops looking outside of themself for permission, or a source of supremacy, they have met the final authority: the self. They use religion as a tool in order to keep the people under control. It did not allow multiple, or individual portrayals or belief systems. Once this occurs, the product is a self realized being, and the need for authority of any type vanishes. No loving God wishes to be worshipped. It does God no good in heaven or on earth. finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength. He believed that the sovereign should not only be the head of the government, but also of the Church. Hobbes equates being alone with individual power. Hobbes also felt the sovereign should establish a religion.
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