Question

What would Hobbes say of Bossuet’s justification for absolute royal authority? What would Bossuet say of Hobbes’s?

Answer 1

Thomas Hobbes was an English writer & philosopher. At same time, He wrote a political treatise, Leviathan. , Hobbes saw strong government as key to avoiding civil war &disorder, but used Bible statrments to illustrate his points, his main argument are based on nature. Hobbes, sees government as man-made, not divine, in origin.& government, we choose whatever govt. we want. who make a decision is to look at way government is formed in first place.

Mankind was originally born to the state of nature: the state where in which we are in before there are any laws, any policeman, any government of any sort. In the state of nature, we are abosoulately free. We are free to perform any thing we want to do .Life in the state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, & short. Notice what happens in the state of nature. How long these things sustain in the state of nature? But is life good for big, strong guys in the state of nature? No! A bunch of little guys can get together and take from them anything they happen to value. The weakest of us can make things mighty tough on even the strongest, can make things mighty unpleasant for bright. Hobbes argues that, though we want justice, equity, modesty, mercy and the rest, our passions will make us violate all these things unless there is a strong power to keep us from doing so. Life not good for anyone in the state of nature. We use our freedom to make an agreement with one another, what Hobbes calls a Covenant. By this convenant we surrender our freedom to the state, so that our lives won't be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.

As government is man-made,thus form any kind of government we like. But what should we choose? Democracy? Aristocracy? Monarchy? Monarchy is by far the best choice, says Hobbes. Because People, , are selfish including rulers. Therefore form of government where a ruler's private interest is closest to public interest, a system of government that uses human selfishness to advantage. The only government that takes advantage of human selfishness well is monarchy.

Particularly interesting is Hobbes attitude to religion. He states that religion is essential to the security of the commonwealth, & therefore the sovereign has the right to determine what that religion will be. Catholicism, Lutheranism--whatever he wants. But even if he chooses Catholicism, it is a Catholicism where the Pope's authority is conditioned on the sovereign's say so. We have no right at all to challenge the state religion.  

On the other hand Jacques Bossut a french Bishop, apopular preacher He devoted much of his time in figuring out  how government might ideally operate.&, he derived his ideas primarily from the scripture. His book- "The Principles of Politics derived from the scripture." Bossuet maintains that they advocate monarchy. God himself is a king. When Jesus returns, he will reign as king. We are taught to pray, All this is a evidence that monachary is the ideal form of government.Most ancient, & most natural form of government are ruled by kings; throughout the world, their are kings; back in history: usually we see kings, and, whenever there is another form of government A King is like a father to his people.& has great responsibilities towards people, foremost to ensure justice, peace--and the true religion. But it is God who places this responsibility on the king, and to God alone that he is answerable. & will want to pass on a strong, stable country to his son, he will perform what's best in the long term, not things that are simply immediately popular

Accordingly, religion is the foundatation of justice & government. Even in pagan societies, religion serves an essential government function. The true religion provides a firmer foundation for good government, & therefore a king must make every effort to ensure conformity to this religion.