ABSTRACT
Hobbes’s moral philosophy is designed to be the foundation for his political philosophy, to be an account of satisfying human relationships or human excellence for its own sake. Hobbes has no conception of society independent of a political entity that keeps people from brutalizing and killing each other. In this regard, Hobbes’s view is very different from that of John Locke, for whom life in society mediates a solitary human life and life within a civil state. We shall see below that no one could live a “moral” life very long unless he joined with others to form a government. So let’s say something about the nature of Hobbes’s political philosophy before focusing on his moral theory.
