InfoCoBuild

PHIL 181 - Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature

Lecture 19 - Contract & Commonwealth: Thomas Hobbes. In the opening part of the lecture, Professor Gendler concludes her discussion of punishment by exploring how Alan Kazdin's research on effective parenting provides insights about techniques for rehabilitating individuals who violate societal norms. She then moves to the third large unit of the course: the question of the legitimacy and structure of the state. One answer to the question of state legitimacy - that of Thomas Hobbes - is presented. Hobbes argues that life without a government, in a "state of nature," would be "nasty, poor, solitary, brutish, and short" as a result of violent competition for resources. To avoid this situation, Hobbes contends that rational individuals should lay down some of their rights in order to receive the benefits of a centralized state, to the extent that others are also willing to do so.
(from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 19 - Contract & Commonwealth: Thomas Hobbes

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Punishment Concluded
[00:13:48] 2. Hobbes and Social Contract Theory
[00:23:17] 3. The State of Nature
[00:36:23] 4. The Laws of Nature

References
Lecture 19 - Contract & Commonwealth: Thomas Hobbes
Instructor: Professor Tamar Gendler. Resources: Reading Guide 19 [PDF]; Credit List [PDF]. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Introduction
Lecture 02 - The Ring of Gyges: Morality and Hypocrisy
Lecture 03 - Parts of the Soul I
Lecture 04 - Parts of the Soul II
Lecture 05 - The Well-Ordered Soul: Happiness and Harmony
Lecture 06 - The Disordered Soul: Themis and PTSD
Lecture 07 - Flourishing and Attachment
Lecture 08 - Flourishing and Detachment
Lecture 09 - Virtue and Habit I
Lecture 10 - Virtue and Habit II
Lecture 11 - Weakness of the Will and Procrastination
Lecture 12 - Utilitarianism and its Critiques
Lecture 13 - Deontology
Lecture 14 - The Trolley Problem
Lecture 15 - Empirically-informed Responses
Lecture 16 - Philosophical Puzzles
Lecture 17 - Punishment I
Lecture 18 - Punishment II
Lecture 19 - Contract & Commonwealth: Thomas Hobbes
Lecture 20 - The Prisoner's Dilemma
Lecture 21 - Equality
Lecture 22 - Equality II
Lecture 23 - Social Structures
Lecture 24 - Censorship
Lecture 25 - Tying up Loose Ends
Lecture 26 - Concluding Lecture