IRRELIGION OF HOBBES.

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religion from the natural knowledge of things; and Hobbes does the same. But Bacon based religion upon the supernatural revelation of God, whereas Hobbes bases it upon the natural ignorance of man. This religion based upon ignorance and blind fear is nothing but superstition. Thus religion is superstitious even in its natural origin; or, in other words, there is no such thing as natural religion.

Such, according to Hobbes, is the position of morality and religion. The principle of natural morality is human selfishness—the opposite of all morality. The principle of natural religion is superstitious fear the opposite of all religion. The two propositions are closely and logically connected. All who have endeavoured to deduce morality from selfishness have deduced religion from fear, and vice versa.

By the conversion of the natural condition of man into the state, his life, from being atomistic, becomes social and gregarious. The state by public laws declares what is good and bad for all. It thus marks the distinction between just and unjust actions, and likewise determines what is to be believed by all, what Deity is to be worshipped, and in what form. Thus the political sanction, the law of the state, alone pronounces the final decision between good and bad, between

religion and superstition; the law of the state alone determines what is universally useful, and should be universally revered, and thus constitutes both morality and religion. A legal action is good, an illegal action bad; the legal worship of the Deity is religion, the illegal, superstition. In the natural condition of man, according to Hobbes, everything is bad that injures me, every faith is superstitious that is not mine. In the state, on the contrary, the fear of such invisible beings as are publicly sanctioned by the legislature is alone religion; all else is superstition. Thus Hobbes plainly defines superstition as "the fear of invisible beings that are not publicly recognised." The distinctions between legal and illegal, and all that belongs to them—namely, the distinctions between good and evil, religion and superstition are as absolute as the state itself. That distinction between legality and morality, upon which Kant rested the whole weight of his ethics, does not exist from the point of view taken by Hobbes, who recognises only one standard for the worth of actions,—namely, the public law. "The public law is the citizen's only conscience." There is with Hobbes no "tribunal," either within or without the state, stronger than the state itself; the state is absolute.

THE NATURAL CONTRACT.

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3. THE STATE AS A PRODUCT OF NATURE.

The answer Thus the first

How does a

But how does this atomistic state result from the atomistic condition of nature? is, by a naturally legal contract. question is divided into two: natural contract, in any form whatever, result from the natural condition of man? How does the absolute state, however constituted, result from the natural contract?

The natural condition of man is a war of all against all, which necessarily arises, because the human forces, by their very nature, are opposed in hostility to each other. But this very war, in the most formidable manner, threatens every individual with the loss of life and happiness; it is injurious to every one, and, consequently, repugnant to that law of nature by which every individual instinctively seeks the enjoyment of life, and fears death. The law of nature counsels every one to seek his own safety; and this enjoins every one to cease a war by which, to the highest degree, his safety is imperilled. It says, "Do not fight any longer, but let every one, for his own advantage, agree with all the rest." For this purpose, all those conditions that disturb the general peace must be abandoned. Those condi

tions lie in the natural right by which every individual is permitted, nay, enjoined, to increase his own power at the expense of the others. Consequently all must abandon their natural rights, or, what is the same thing, transfer them to a third party. The "renuntiation" is, at the same time, a "translation." It takes place on all sides, because it is required by everybody; it is reciprocal, because every one parts with his own right on the sole condition that others shall do the like. This reciprocal transfer of rights forms the contract; and the contract constitutes the essence of the state in human society. It is commanded by the natural law of necessity, and is, therefore, to be implicitly carried out. Its object is the coexistence of persons in peace and security. All the conditions required for its existence are natural laws, the sum total of which constitutes, according to Hobbes, the only real morality.

To

The right, once transferred, is irrevocable; consequently the social contract itself can neither be rescinded nor altered. This contract is the foundation of the state, and holds the position in politics that is held by axioms in science. contradict an axiom is absurd; and, in like manner, it is absurd and also wrong to rescind the contract that has once been established. That it may be impossible to commit such a wrong, the contract

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must not merely consist of words, but must be armed with a power that imperiously requires and, in cases of necessity, compels recognition,— that can preserve its consistency, and, in cases of necessity, defend it. To the society formed by virtue of this contract, all the rights and powers of individuals are transferred. Society wields absolute power, and thus forms the state, which unites all rights and all power within itself. The power of the state is sole, unlimited, indivisible; it can neither be divided nor limited. In the presence of the state, all are subjects. The state alone rules, and is alone free. The others obey, they must do, what is enjoined by the laws. "Their freedom," says Hobbes, "exists only in that which is not prohibited by the laws." The state is absolute.

Now, this all-powerful state, this "people" to whom every individual is a subject—in what form does it exist? who is the state? Accordingly as the power is lodged with one person or many, the form of the state may be distinguished as monarchical, aristocratic, or democratic; but whatever be the form, the power of the state is, in all cases, absolute and indivisible. According to Hobbes, the legislative must not be separated from the governing power, nor the judicial power from the other two. All the powers are united