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Would Hobbes Support a Law On Mandatory Conn Vax?, Green = Agree, Red =…
Would Hobbes Support a Law On Mandatory Conn Vax?
Collective Rights
Hobbes stated that, in the whole universe of individuals, there really are no laws or anyone to create them; to which he stated that a sovereign must bring up a greater power.
It is most likely that Hobbes would trust the government to make the hard calls, especially with something that is beneficial to the safety of everyone.
Hobbes said that the Social Contract was heavily aimed towards people and not the Sovereign (or king) and that citizens should not get angry once full control was given to said Sovereign.
With this being said, Hobbes would most likely stand with the mandate since he believes in full power of a government figure (more so Sovereign but still applies).
Recall back to Government and how it applies to present Canadian Law.
Human Nature
Hobbes created the "Social Contract" for the benefit of society
Thomas Hobbes created the Social Contract in 1651. Its main purpose was to push all possible mandates if it meant that all citizens were protected, even if that meant sacrificing other rights. This is a very important point to why Hobbes would support the mandatory vaccination because vaccinations, for many, can be a sacrifice to beliefs in the name of safety.
Recalling back to Public Safety, Hobbes heavily pushes the idea of following the commands of an upper hand Sovereign, and safety of individuals over all else.
Hobbes envisioned a universe where there were no laws or rights and humans were on their own, to which he stated in his own words that "contiuned fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man [was] solitary, poor, nasty, bruitsh, and short."
With this vision, it could resemble the total failure of a society. A society that isn't under control by an individual—or individuals—with power will ultimately collapse which is exactly why Hobbes stated that there must be a government (Sovereign) to control and lead things in the right direction—for the safety of everyone. This includes mandates.
Recall to Public Safety.
Government
Hobbes heavily believed in the branch of Monarchy, saying that the government was best to be led by a king.
Because a Sovereign isn't the ideal act of the government, this belief is a good umbrella for the idea of Hobbes supporting a mandatory vacciation. Hobbes supports the idea of full power to a king, so he wouldn't have a problem with the call if it was annouced by a Sovereign.
Collective Rights can also be connected to this, as Hobbes also stated that once all power was given to the Sovereign, individuals then had no right to fight against it.
In terms of current perspective, the Canadian election of the Prime Minister can be compared to this belief.
After the 1649 war, where King Charles I was executed, Hobbes was enraged that a collective parliament won over a singular Sovereign.
Hobbes ultimately view the government as an awful group of people with the power of the world at their hands. This would most definitely lead him off the tracks of supporting a mandatory vaccination because of his bad experiences with the government destroying what he, himself, considered the ideal government (Sovereign).
After the death of King Charles I, Hobbes wrote a book titled "Leviathan," the title referring to the overpowering government and their decisions.
This would negatively affect how Hobbes views the mandatory vaccination because tough calls—such as—are most commonly debated by the government or those involved with some sort of government authority. Hobbes would not like this and might even see it as propaganda due to the decision being made by a collective group of people with "abused" power.
Human Nature can be brought into this, although not a direct claim from this diagram, citizens—much like Hobbes—who disagree with the ideal government may rebel and fight for their rights which often aren't infringed by these mandatory circumstances.
Branching off of this, Collective Rights can also be used as an example, taking things like riots and protests into consideration. Think of "Leviathan" as a self-inflicted way of disagreement.
Public Safety
Hobbes stated that if the government weren't to be ran by a Sovereign, then society would ultimately destroy itself from the aggressive nature of humans.
Tying back to Human Nature and the Social Contract, Hobbes was very concerned for the health and safety of everyone. Because of this, he most likely would allow something such as a vaccination to be mandatory for the safety of everyone—completely disregarding whoever may be in charge of the mandate.
Recall back to Hobbes vision in Human Nature
Hobbes argued that the most important part of law was the safety of all individuals.
Since safety of others is such a high priority in the eyes of Hobbes, it is only presumable that he would be perfectly fine with a mandate in place to protect people. Hobbes specifically stated that "the government should do everything in their power to protect individuals."
The whole purpose of the vaccine mandate was to protect individuals, much like the mask mandate.
Works Cited
Government + Public Safety
N/A. “Constitutional Rights Foundation.” N/A. Accessed October 01, 2022.
https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-20-2-c-hobbes-locke-montesquieu-and-rousseau-on-government.html
Works Cited
Collective Rights + Human Nature
Llyod, Sharon/Sreedhar, Susanne. “Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.” Stanford University. Accessed October 01, 2022.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/
Green = Agree
Red = Disagree