The Compatibility of Individual and Common Good in Hobbes’s Philosophy

Abstract

This chapter considers the extent to which individual and common good are compatible within Thomas Hobbes’s philosophy. It explores Hobbes’s notion of “good”, and considers how he allows for the existence of “real” individual goods. Next, it examines Hobbes’s definition of common good as that which is “good for the commonwealth”. It is the sovereign who decides what is good for the commonwealth, but just as there are real individual goods, there are real common goods. Real goods for the commonwealth are those things that preserve its existence. It is argued that, in Hobbes’s theory, real individual goods are compatible with real common goods; moreover, it is this compatibility that ensures the stability and prosperity of the commonwealth. However, a condition in which all laws are directed to the real common good, and citizens see where their own real good lies, is an ideal, not a realistic political scenario for Hobbes. Real politics requires defusing potential conflict between individual goods and the common good in a different way: namely, by encouraging citizens to accept the sovereign’s judgement of what is “good”. Nevertheless, there are limits to what subjects will accept. Tracing the theoretical compatibility between real goods for individuals and for commonwealths in Hobbes’s thought shows how the preservation of a Hobbesian political community relies not only on citizens accepting the sovereign’s judgement, but also on the ability of sovereigns to see the real common good.