10. Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Thomas Hobbes

Nigel Warburton

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10. Nasty, Brutish, and Short

Thomas Hobbes

Nigel Warburton
Nigel Warburton

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c h a p t e r 1 0Nasty, Brutish, and ShortThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes (1588–1679) was one of England’s greatest political thinkers. What’s less well known is that he was also an early fitness fanatic. He would go out for a long walk every morning, striding quickly up hills so as to get out of breath. In case he had any good ideas while out he had a special stick made with an inkwell in the handle. This tall, red-faced, cheerful man with a moustache and a little wispy beard had been a sickly child. But as an adult he was extremely healthy and played real tennis into old age. He ate lots of fish, drank very little wine, and used to sing – behind closed doors, and out of earshot – to exercise his lungs. And, of course, like most philos-ophers, he had a highly active mind. The result was that he lived to 91, an exceptional age for the seventeenth century when average life expectancy was 35.Despite his genial character, Hobbes, like Machiavelli, had a low view of human beings. We are all basically selfish, driven by

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c h a p t e r 1 0Nasty, Brutish, and ShortThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes (1588–1679) was one of England’s greatest political thinkers. What’s less well known is that he was also an early fitness fanatic. He would go out for a long walk every morning, striding quickly up hills so as to get out of breath. In case he had any good ideas while out he had a special stick made with an inkwell in the handle. This tall, red-faced, cheerful man with a moustache and a little wispy beard had been a sickly child. But as an adult he was extremely healthy and played real tennis into old age. He ate lots of fish, drank very little wine, and used to sing – behind closed doors, and out of earshot – to exercise his lungs. And, of course, like most philos-ophers, he had a highly active mind. The result was that he lived to 91, an exceptional age for the seventeenth century when average life expectancy was 35.Despite his genial character, Hobbes, like Machiavelli, had a low view of human beings. We are all basically selfish, driven by

You are currently not able to access this content.

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Purchase Chapter PDF

$42.00