Man and State in the Thought of Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes

日本早稻田大學(xué)政治經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)部國際政治經(jīng)濟(jì)專業(yè)2013年秋季入學(xué)學(xué)生

Abstract：In modern political history， there are two thinkers who made an important role， Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes .Machiavelli is On behalf of the old world to the new European order. Hobbes is on the bridge from monarchy to Liberalism .My essay will illustrate each thinkers’ view of man and state.what’s the relationship between man and state and what’s a state should do to maintain its harmony for man to live？From the different views，we can find the dimension changes and transformed according to how the philosophers adjusted their ideology to adopt the environment ，classes and culture they lived in.

Keywords： political theory，Niccolo Machiavelli， Tomas Hobbes，man and state.

Machiavelli：

Machiavelli was born in Italy in fifteen century with growth of city economy in Venice，F(xiàn)lorence and so on. However， the economy development combined with highly insatiability in political regime， I think it can be compared with the ancient Greece in general with regional conflict and warfare. Machiavelli is the first man who start to think about the interaction between state and man， and propose the ideology that the superiority of republic over monarchy under the collective judgment， which the fortune of citizens body live longer than monarchy，where the virtue of common people lived with liberty and avoid the corruption.therefore， I would like to discuss the relationship between man and state under Republicanism and monarchy about how Machiavelli talked in his discourse.

What’s the purpose of authority and the republican system？Firstly， I would like to talk about what a state should be？In Machiavelli’s point of view， the production and birth of state related to the human activity instead of received birth from the god in order to rescue human beings.The existence of states is to protect and promise a better equality of life to ordinary people according to protect the private asset then the final propose is to giving a happiness life to man in state. The basic Machiavellian think that no matter in what legal or illegal method to obtain or maintain to built a strong purpose that everybody should obey. Only if this propose has been historical or practical inspected then this purpose is efficiency and proper.However this single political purpose must be actualized for the happiness of human beings which is higher than the morality and religion.

As a supporter of monarchy mainly because of the reality situation he has to follow，under the monarchy， the king almost represent the will of state， somehow， the relationship between man and state can be transferred to man and king. After that， when king get the power successfully， the counties united and society orderly， if king still would like to keep in power， he must understand who is the power serves. If a king occupied the recourse which should be allocated to man and violated the private safety， surely he would be replaced and dead because of the hate from the people.

Secondly I would like to talk about how man influence the state.For individual morality， Machiavelli hold the view that human nature is born evil， this is contradiction with the past ideology. He totally support that， if the situation satisfied， the good human nature will corrupt and degenerate. Mainly because of the time he lived， Italy was under the moral corruption and social unrest， the practical experience illustrative that the human nature is bad are reasonable， because no one can avoid enjoying a better life with money power， this aspire without limitation between ordinary people， nobleman and king. According to his evil human nature perspective，chasing power and money is the fundamental human desire to set up the political theory and political institution. In his eyes， both money and power are limited，but the desire is infinite，so man will uncontrolled plunder and possession of resources which will result in unstable and separated society. Therefore， man would like to alliance to protect themselves by choosing a most powerful and bravest man from their own group to lead them， then the law against bullying was published， then the criminal law， finally the state is built. We can see that the origin and purpose of the state is the same，that is to protect the individual asset and safety.Also in his patriotism， he think the arte dello stato that states should under the condition that comprised by family and individual and the art for the oices which the household corresponding to the state politics.

To sum up， Machiavelli is both a monarchy and republican supporter. The relationship between man and state can be transferred into the relationship between the ruler and the man， or the ruler and the state these two aspects. Both of this view are under the shape of a triangle that there exist a superior power dominate the ordinary people.

Thomas Hobbes ：

Thomas Hobbes has an important position in the history of Western political theory， from the beginning I would like to introduce his basic ideology. First， as \"the first modern materialist （eighteenth Century sense）\" Hobbes groundbreaking new science and political philosophy mastery. Mechanical materialism is the theoretical basis of his social and political problems， he pointed out that all the objects were in motion the law of causality inevitable， country as \"man-made objects\" by the law of causality constraints， this law exists with human beings which can be seen through observation.Secondly， Hobbes is the first modern western thinkers thoroughly implement the individualism. He pointed that the self preservation as personal basic natural rights and the first a natural law which independent and prior to other natural law， this fundamentally difference between the traditional concept of natural law.Therefore， the nature law implemented the deviation to the nature right. Furthermore， Hobbes start from the rational concept of abstract principles and human nature of the first system with the social contract theory explains the origin and base of the country， criticized the divine right theory， established the form of modern bourgeois theory to explain the basic and birth of the state. Finally， Hobbes’ ideology on national sovereignty illustrate the formal formation of modern western political thought history.

Hobbes think that the sovereignty with absolute power which can be determinate under the multiple suggestions from different people and obey unconditional，also a sovereignty upon the fully agreement avoid the different opinion from the minority to against and resist the authority. To combine these two perspectives， which is the single person decision and people agreement， he give the ideology called the contract theory of sovereignty. People with the hope of peace should unite together and self-preservation to negotiate a fundamental role， this role can only be implemented by contract. This is the birth of sovereignty and the birth of a state.

After the birth of the state， there is a basic principle between man and state， but there couldn’t become the purpose of the state. So he also giving the idea of obligations and right for the subject-the man to maintain the sovereign power and people’s benefit. For man’s obligation， Hobbes think the civil right is the freedom which Constitution provided， and constitution limited the civil right. In nature order， the absolute freedom is everyone has the right to infringe others which the Constitution forbid. To also seize for freedom ， the man built the law. The law is necessary for social harmony and people’s self-defense Without the state， man can enjoy the absolute freedom， but within the state， there is a law to limit the freedom， The freedom which law protected is the real freedom， therefore， the biggest right for the man is to enjoy the right of self-defense which can not be deviate and give up， even if the law can not forbid it. And the condition is ， the man should obey the order of the state without any excuse only if the ruler can not protect the man and the man can stop their defer.

To sum up， under the situation where Hobbes lived， on the one hand， before the capitalist revolution as many other European countries，the Britain is as same as the other countries are isolated and the authority was desperate to others as federalism.however， with the rise of capitalism， the new order required a connected and united kingdom for trade and economy development.on the other hand， at the beginning of the capitalism ， it completely exposed its drawbacks like taking all kinds of cruel means to exploit and oppress the working people. So the ruler classed and worker classes need to cooperate with each other to against capitalist. Therefore， to avoid the division of country， there must exist an ideology to reunited the state.

Conclusion：

Both thinkers emphasize that the right of man have to be protected， although their tools of protection are different， we can summarize them as ‘protection democracy’.Machiavelli and Hobbes is the representative of the national sovereignty. In order to protect the rights of the people， a strong state is necessary to be a holder of the social order. Therefore when we consider the relationship between history and political theory. Although their ideologies exist drawbacks until today， their effort are all worthy to solve the society conflicts at that time. The history of political theory can both give us experience to review the contemporary situation and also avoid further mistakes.

Reference：

[1]Hobbes， T.， 1968， Leviathan， edited by C.B. Macpherson. Harmondsworth： Penguin.

[2]Machiavelli， N.， 1975， The Prince. Harmondsworth： Penguin.

[3]Marchiavelli， N.， 1983， The Discourses. Harmondsworth： Penguin.

[4]Plamenatz， J.， 1963， Man and Society， Vol.1. London： Longman.

[5]Sabine， George H. Thomas L. Thorson， 1973， A History of Political Theory， 4 ed.， Hinsdale， Illinois： Dryden Press.