Introduction
The ultimate goal of Thomas Hobbes’ laws of nature is to escape from the state of nature. From Thomas Hobbes’ nineteen laws of nature, five views on law and justice can be deduced. The first view is that security and protection of peace are fundamental to justice. Second, justice depends on the existence of a superior power. Next, Thomas Hobbes believes that a ruler must have all authority to protect life, property, and contract. Fourth, people need government to regulate their relationships. Finally, According to Thomas Hobbes, people have a contract with the state (Gauthier, 2001). Thus, in order to understand Hobbes’ reasoning for his concept of justice, this paper will elaborate what Hobbes’ views would have been concerning four laws. The first two laws are a law that would decriminalize vice crimes such as prostitution, possession of drugs, and all gambling and a law that permits members of certain ethnic groups to be arrested and interrogated without legal representation. The other two laws are a law that permits euthanasia and a law that would permit the government to take DNA samples from all newborns in order to maintain a databank that could be used to match DNA from a crime scene.
Thomas Hobbes and Decriminalizing Vice Crimes
Thomas Hobbes would oppose decriminalizing victimless crimes like prostitution, gambling, and possession of drugs. The reason attributed to this assertion is the fact that Hobbes believes that in the state of nature, there is a law-based morality and a virtue-based morality and the two have a close theoretical connection (Lloyd & Sreedhar, 2002). On an additional note, the notions of virtue and vice play an important role in Hobbes’ thought. Hobbes should be read as a virtue theorist who construes morality principally in terms of goodness or badness of character, that is, virtue and vice (Lloyd, 2009). Therefore, Thomas Hobbes would oppose decriminalizing victimless crimes like prostitution, gambling, and possession of drugs because God gave humans free will but at the same time, morals and values uphold the society. As such, it is morally wrong for an individual to decide to do something that harms himself or herself. According to Thomas Hobbes, decriminalizing victimless crimes would be similar to telling the young children that they can do whatever they want without punishment if it does not hurt others. Although it is argued that vice crimes should be decriminalized because they are victimless, they are indeed not because they lead to real crimes like deaths associated with drugs and murders associated with prostitution and sex.
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Thomas Hobbes and Ethnic Minority
Thomas Hobbes would also oppose a law that permits members of certain ethnic groups to be arrested and interrogated without legal representation. In light of this, according to Thomas Hobbes, all men are by nature equal in the faculties of body and mind (West, 2004). Hobbes acknowledges that there are bodies that are stronger than others and minds that are quicker than others, but ultimately, they are equal in nature. In brief, Thomas Hobbes would oppose a law that permits members of certain ethnic groups to be arrested and interrogated without legal representation since this violates natural equality. Also, according to Thomas Hobbes, human rights are about the recognition of ethnic minorities, the protection of cultural diversity, and the protection of women and the poor (Govind, 2011). Therefore, Thomas Hobbes would also oppose a law that permits members of certain ethnic groups to be arrested and interrogated without legal representation because this violates the human rights, particularly the recognition of ethnic minorities, protection of cultural diversity, and protection of women and poor people.
Thomas Hobbes’s Views on Euthanasia
Thomas Hobbes would not have been in favor of legalizing euthanasia. According to him, an order in the society can only be achieved by putting laws in place, and humans must agree to follow a sovereign to maintain harmony. A state of nature implies a time before laws and government. As such, during Hobbes’ time, human instinct was the driving force behind every human. According to Hobbes, the reason as to why there was a need to put laws in place was that humans in their natural state were selfish and it was necessary to inhibit every individual from running rampant, including committing suicide (Tierney, 2006; Del Bò, 2005). Therefore, Hobbes would not be in favor of legalizing euthanasia because he felt that humanity needed laws in place to limit their careless impulses since humanity was egotistical and harmful instinctively and left on their own would constantly be at conflict and chaos.
Thomas Hobbes and Government Taking DNA Samples
However, Thomas Hobbes would be in favor of permitting the government to take DNA samples from all newborns in order to maintain a databank that could be used to match DNA from a crime scene. As indicated earlier, according to Thomas Hobbes, security and protection of peace are fundamental to justice, justice depends on the existence of a superior power, a ruler must have all authority to protect life, property, and contract, people need government to regulate their relationships, and people have a contract with the state (Gauthier, 2001). According to Thomas Hobbes, civil wars were caused by appeals to natural and divine laws above the will of the sovereign. Additionally, according to Thomas Hobbes people should accept laws and customs of their nations for the sake of peace and security (Gauthier, 2001). Therefore, considering that the government’s collection of DNA samples aims at crime mitigation and enhancing security, it follows then that Thomas Hobbes would be in favor of permitting the government to take DNA samples from all newborns in order to maintain a databank that could be used to match DNA from a crime scene.
Conclusion
In summary, Thomas Hobbes would oppose decriminalizing victimless crimes like prostitution, gambling, and possession of drugs because God gave humans free will but at the same time, morals and values uphold the society. It is immoral for an individual to decide to do something that harms himself or herself. Thomas Hobbes would oppose a law that permits members of certain ethnic groups to be arrested and interrogated without legal representation since this violates natural equality and the human rights, especially the recognition of ethnic minorities, protection of cultural diversity, and protection of women and poor people. Hobbes would not be in favor of legalizing euthanasia because he felt that humanity needed laws in place to limit their careless impulses like committing suicide since humanity was egotistical and harmful instinctively and left on their own would constantly be at conflict and chaos. Furthermore, Thomas Hobbes would be in favor of permitting the government to take DNA samples from all newborns in order to maintain a databank that could be used to match DNA from a crime scene since the law focuses on mitigating crime and enhancing security.
References
Del Bò, C. (2005). Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Arguing for a Distinction.
Gauthier, D. (2001). Hobbes: the laws of nature. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly , 82 (3‐4), 258-284.
Govind, R. (2011). Equality, Right, and Identity: Rethinking the Contract through Hobbes and Marx. Telos-New York , (154), 75.
Lloyd, S. A. (2009). Morality in the Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes: Cases in the Law of Nature . Cambridge University Press.
Lloyd, S. A., & Sreedhar, S. (2002). Hobbes's moral and political philosophy.
Saastamoinen, K. (2010). Pufendorf on natural equality, human dignity, and self-esteem. Journal of the History of Ideas , 71 (1), 39-62.
Tierney, T. F. (2006). Suicidal thoughts: Hobbes, Foucault and the right to die. Philosophy & social criticism , 32 (5), 601-638.
West, R. (2004). Re-Imagining Justice: Progressive Interpretations of Formal Equality, Rights, and the Rule of Law (p. 150). Ashgate.
