Opening and Evidence

I am Thomas Hobbes. I am an English Philosopher with one correct view of Human Nature: All humans are self-centered creatures who are motivated by power and survival. In a State of Nature--no laws, no morality, no property--there is only one "natural right:" the right to protect one's self using any means at one's disposal, including violence and slaughter. It's terrible, it's wrong, but it's who we are as people. For example, if there are two people stranded in the middle of the desert for two months with only two apples for food, their solution is to split the food in half so each person gets their fair share; but of course they are selfish. Although they made a verbal agreement to split the apples, they each want to survive so they will do anything to get both; this is where my famous "social contract" comes into existence. I believe that the answer to a problem like this is to bring in a third party, a sovereign. The sovereign’s duty is to make sure each party stays true to their word. This is how I perceive a government should be like: have a sovereign. I do not doubt that they will abuse the power they have now encountered, but I trust that this is better than having anarchy due to our selfish natures. There are so many examples demonstrating our selfish natures

Francisco Pizarro and the Incas, a piece of history; this is one example demonstrating how self interested us as beings are. Francisco Pizarro was a leader. He led his men around the south side of South America right up to the Incan Empire; he wanted power and gold. Pizarro escorted his followers to get what he wanted; to obtain what he desired, he put the lives of his group in danger. Pizarro is like a sovereign of his people; he’s the leader. He should be well respected by his followers and give the same in return. However, just as I predicted, he is abusing his power by getting his people to do the “dirty work” for him. What do you think about that? Selfish? Yes; of course it is. He is only caring about himself and looking out for himself because he’s human. Pizarro proves my view of human nature by inserting slaughter and violence into his actions to receive what he wanted. It’s fact: people will do what they have to do in order to get what they truly desire; in this case, Francisco Pizarro uses violence to achieve the task of conquering the Incan Empire, letting him become in power by receiving the gold with his sly tricks of tricking the Incan leader and killing everyone of the Incans. It’s hard to grasp the fact that all humans have a selfish edge to them. One may say that they do everything in their power to not become selfish because it makes them feel like a better person, but is not becoming selfish just for ones pleasure a form a selfishness? Yes it is. It’s hard to go through life without doing things for yourself. “I want to act in a nice manner to make people perceive me as a nice person,” even in a situation like this, one would be doing what they need to do in order to get what they want: for people to perceive them as a nice person; it’s just the way of life.


Another way I can prove my precise views of human nature is by acknowledging the movie “The Lion King.” Watch the clip above. It is definition of selfishness. Scar initially is mad that he isn't heir to the throne so he figures out a way to kill both Simba and Mufasa by having the hyenas chase the antelope and create a stampede. At the end, Scar throws Mufasa off of the cliff and has the hyenas chase Simba away from Pride Rock (where they live) so he will now be named king. I know this is just a disney movie, but it is related to actual reality. An actual person made the script for this movie. They made up the characters and they made up what they were going to say. It's proof that humans have this selfish nature inside of them or else they wouldn't write about this kind of stuff. Each movie would be filled with sweetness, honesty, and no violence; but since the writer is a person, having a selfish nature is part of him. As a result of how we truly only care about ourselves, we will do anything to make us happy which is why there is a lot in the news about crime.

Robberies. How many times have they been in the news? Why do they happen? I'll tell you why, they are motivated by the things they want the way they want it. Robberies happen because someone wants something but doesn't want to pay for it. There is a recent story of a store being robbed in the north end of Burlington; the robber demanded money. Why did he demand money? Because he wanted it. Who doesn't want money? Money is the thing that buys people the necessities; the luxuries in life. Money is a motivator. The man robbing the store is robbing it for himself. He wants money so he does anything to get it. This is an example of how self-centered human beings really are. Something that is closely related to robberies is steeling. Everyone is guilty of steeling. How many people have ever taken something that isn't theirs whether it's a pencil, money laying on the street, or even a big thing like a piece of property? Everyone is guilty of doing things for the benefits of themselves. It's fact, it's true, it's reality. As far as I'm concerned my belief of human nature is correct; humans are ones who are motivated by power and survival. It's just the fact of life.