Springs, Strings, Wheels, and Government
by kthai
I find Hobbes’ defence of materialism interesting. He doesn’t allow room for the existence of things that aren’t exclusively physical in nature, such as supernatural beings. So what about God? He’s “incorporeal” because his attributes aren’t something the human mind can comprehend. Okay, but then what about the human mind? He equates humans to biological machines — machines currently don’t have much going on in the “mind” department, even if they possess some artificial intelligence. How does he explain the mind if he views a human as being entirely physical and mechanical? He does talk about the mind, but in terms of activities like having an appetite or moving voluntarily. He’s being very mechanical about the mind and about thought, but people think about things other than the basics. What about abstract thought, and the mind in that respect?
Is democracy the best form of government?
…is the question my history 12 teacher asked us when we were learning about Marxism. When I first opened Hobbes I was expecting the political ideology to come through straight away, but he began by describing mankind. Actually, he had to. Democracy is a great concept, and gives people equal opportunity to voice their opinion as to who leads the country, and etc. But it hasn’t been working well as a system lately, when I think about the increase in voter apathy. A lot of people probably feel like their vote doesn’t matter, and a lot of people just don’t see the point (you all must have seen that Russell Brand interview by now). It does feel like no matter who is leading nothing really changes and the rich keep getting richer. Can people, collectively, see beyond their personal interests and work for the public good? Because that is when a democracy works best. I feel like democracy has been tainted by people who care about maximizing their own wealth and power, forcing other people to care more about their self-preservation or promotion and less about others — warring against each other in a sense. Hobbes would then advocate for the installment of a controlling authority to prevent chaos. Do we need absolutist form of government? No, a dictator or a bunch of dictators aren’t best for the people unless they’re mainly interested in working for the public good, and those in positions of power almost always let it get to their head.
Oh, and the answer he gave us was, “I don’t know.”
Sorry Kathy, somehow I missed your post when I was commenting on posts this week! Your questions about materialism and the mind are interesting, and ones we didn’t discuss in class. I don’t know much about modern neuroscience, but it does seem to me that we may still have a certain degree of materialism in talking about the mind. Yes, we talk about thoughts and feelings, but do we think these have any substance other than as neurons and chemicals in the brain and elsewhere in the body? Are they something separate than the physical, material aspects of the body? Or do they somehow emerge from that material? Like I said, I’m no expert in this, but I think many people think it’s the latter. Of course, this doesn’t mean that thoughts are the same as neurons, for example; they do seem to be very different things. But if we think that they are somehow based in what neurons and chemicals do, then I’m not sure we’re terribly far off from Hobbes. He would also say they result from some sort of physical activity in the brain (though what he would say that physical activity is would be significantly different than what modern neuroscience would say).