The Hobbesian life 

In his Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes argued that human nature is such that peace is impossible without a strong legal system to enforce contracts and agreements. A brief statement of his views can be found here (file attatched). 

For this discussion watch the following video by Nigel Warburton and the BBC and state your views on how much people should be willing to give up to have a peaceful life. How far can following a moral code go before law should step in? What theories about human nature would support your views? 

Here is a link to the video (Links to an external site.) 

https://aeon.co/videos/what-are-we-willing-to-sacrifice-to-feel-safe

–Each student should post a response and respond to two other people’s post. If you agree with a person, say why you agree with them. Try to strengthen the view you accept by adding new reasoning to the debate. 

–Graded discussions in this class will be scored by number and length of responses. I grade discussions generously because I regard them as an open forum for ideas. I just want everyone to participate. I won’t criticize your views, but keep in mind other students will read them.