I came across a passage on page 231 that threw me for a loop -- because of its obscurity, impact and the brief change in style/tone from the rest of The Leviathan. Sure Hobbes was thinking outside of the box when he wrote that a Leviathan is a human body with nerves, muscles, etc. -- but in discussing competing souls in a commonwealth, he takes existentialism to a new level.
"As there have been doctors, that hold there be three souls in a man; so there be also that think there may be more souls, (that is, more sovereigns,) than one, in a commonwealth; and set up a supremacy against sovereignty; canons against laws; and a ghostly authority against the civil; working on men's minds, with words and distinctions, that of themselves signify nothing, but bewray (by their obscurity) that there walketh (as some think invisibly) another kingdom, as it were a kingdom of fairies, in the dark."
Here, I think Hobbes is trying to describe the thoughts that all of us have, but fail to recognize or successfully put into words. Such as doubts of religion, existence, true knowledge, authority, justice, etc. Everybody has doubts about things and everybody has wide-eyed hopes for things to be better, or different. It is this hard-to-describe force of nature that I think Hobbes brought up to display the inherent thoughts every person has that work subconsciously to undermine government structure and authority.
As for Hobbes' "kingdom of fairies, in the dark," I am not entirely sure what he meant to say. I assume it was just another way to express the idea of an obscure, other-world of thoughts and doubts that work against laws and civil society, promoting cynics, crime and confusion. His idea of competing souls in a commonwealth reminds of James Madison's account of factions in his Federalist Paper No. 10.
I found the passage as a refreshing piece of existentialism. Also, I think it clears the room for error/improvements in some of Hobbes' writing -- in a way he is saying he doesn't know exactly what drives people to think this way.
How did you interpret this passage?
What a great passage to point out. I think what Hobbes is trying to say is it doesn't matter how much power you have, in the end, you will always be afraid of those who have more power than you.
ReplyDeleteThere's you and then there are three souls in you that push you to be better than others and to be better than who you were yesterday. To be the best, the first soul tells you to do better than the ones who have more power than you. The second soul inspires you to think outside of the box; to go against traditional laws that you don't believe in. And finally, the third soul trains you to be competitive among your peers.
When you're having a bad day, as Hobbes points out, "another kingdom, as it were a kingdom of fairies, in the dark," you must know that you are your own authority. You make your own choices. You are the authority of your own kingdom. It might be a kingdom in the dark, but it's still a kingdom full of fairies. And those three souls in you are your doctors that heal dark moments in life that you have to face.