Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Chapter XLVI
The above quote is by Thomas Hobbes in his mammoth work Leviathan. The section in which it appears considers the social and environmental circumstances required for philosophy to rise.
Read the excerpt below:
Of The Beginnings And Progresse Of Philosophy
The faculty of Reasoning being consequent to the use of Speech, it was not possible, but that there should have been some generall Truthes found out by Reasoning, as ancient almost as Language it selfe.
The Savages of America, are not without some good Morall Sentences; also they have a little Arithmetick, to adde, and divide in Numbers not too great: but they are not therefore Philosophers.
For as there were Plants of Corn and Wine in small quantity dispersed in the Fields and Woods, before men knew their vertue, or made use of them for their nourishment, or planted them apart in Fields, and Vineyards; in which time they fed on Akorns, and drank Water: so also there have been divers true, generall, and profitable Speculations from the beginning; as being the naturall plants of humane Reason:
But they were at first but few in number; men lived upon grosse Experience; there was no Method; that is to say, no Sowing, nor Planting of Knowledge by it self, apart from the Weeds, and common Plants of Errour and Conjecture:
And the cause of it being the want of leasure from procuring the necessities of life, and defending themselves against their neighbours, it was impossible, till the erecting of great Common-wealths, it should be otherwise.
Leasure is the mother of Philosophy; and Common-wealth, the mother of Peace, and Leasure:
Where first were great and flourishing Cities, there was first the study of Philosophy. The Gymnosophists of India, the Magi of Persia, and the Priests of Chaldea and Egypt, are counted the most ancient Philosophers; and those Countreys were the most ancient of Kingdomes.
Philosophy was not risen to the Graecians, and other people of the West, whose Common-wealths (no greater perhaps then Lucca, or Geneva) had never Peace, but when their fears of one another were equall; nor the Leasure to observe any thing but one another.
At length, when Warre had united many of these Graecian lesser Cities, into fewer, and greater; then began Seven Men, of severall parts of Greece, to get the reputation of being Wise; some of them for Morall and Politique Sentences; and others for the learning of the Chaldeans and Egyptians, which was Astronomy, and Geometry. But we hear not yet of any Schools of Philosophy.
We can see from the above that for Hobbes, shared wealth and peace are requirements for a society to begin studying bigger ideas. With this in mind we can reflect on our own modern society and consider how well it is set up for this purpose, and whether that is intentional.
Historical Context
Hobbes’s political philosophy was deeply influenced by the widespread sectarian conflicts of his era, including the European wars of religion and the English Civil Wars. These turbulent events led him to prioritize peace and security as the primary objectives of government, believing they must be upheld at any cost.
Thomas Hobbes (April 5, 1588, Westport, Wiltshire, England – December 4, 1679, Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire) was an English philosopher, scientist, and historian, renowned for his political philosophy, particularly as outlined in his seminal work Leviathan (1651). Hobbes saw government as a mechanism to ensure collective security, advocating for political authority based on a hypothetical social contract. This contract entrusts a sovereign—whether an individual or a governing body—with the responsibility of safeguarding the safety and welfare of all citizens.
In metaphysics, Hobbes championed materialism, the belief that only material entities are real, and in his scientific writings, he explained all observable phenomena as the result of matter in motion. Beyond his own scientific contributions, Hobbes was a skilled synthesizer of the discoveries of his contemporaries, such as Galileo and Johannes Kepler. However, his lasting legacy lies in his role as a political philosopher, providing a rationale for broad government powers founded on the self-interested consent of the governed.