Compare How Hobbes And Augustine Think The Condition Of War Arises And Defend On

Title	Compare How Hobbes And Augustine Think The Condition Of War Arises And Defend On
# of Words	870
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.48

Compare how Hobbes and Augustine Think The Condition of War Arises and Defend One
Author's Account of `ordinary' Morality As An Antedote For It

Compare how Hobbes and Augustine Think The Condition of War Arises and Defend One
Author's Account of `ordinary' Morality As An Antedote For It

     Augustine believes that the condition of war arises when the perfectly
ordered and harmonious enjoyment of God is disrupted (The City of God, 690)
whereas Hobbes believes that the original state of nature is a condition of
constant war, which rational and self-motivated people want to end.

     Augustine argues that peace is more than the absence of hostilities - it
is a state of harmony that makes possible the full functioning of human beings.
Full functioning comes from the four internal virtues (courage, justice,
temperance, and prudence) that we must exercise to achieve good human morality.
Human morality, by and of its self, will not allow us humans to travel to our
moral destination. It is only an exercise of the four virtues so that we as
humans can achieve some sort of peace on our own through God's saving grace.

        To Augustine, humans seek an object of love they can't lose. The problem
with that to humans is that humans can't provide that to other humans completely.
Only God can and that in turn causes hostility among humans. The love of God,
then, is the only way humans can completely satisfy all four virtues and have
eternal peace.  Eternal peace is where faith, love, and hope are to be enjoyed,
such as in The City of God.

        In Book XIX, Augustinian social theory summarizes the principle of
ordered harmony. This theory finds perfection in a mutual society that believes
in God. Believing in God, though, lends a problem in the simple rule of justice:
how do we give each other their due? Seemingly, war or hostility would not be a
part of a Christian's life on earth. Augustine counters by indicating that war
may be and is waged by God's commandment. To Augustine, waging war out of
obedience to God is very different than to wage war for personal gain. But even
wars caused by unselfish humans can be profitable to the faithful through
patience and discipline to God.  Augustine seems to believe that war is waged so
that peace may be obtained. Since we all seek peace, war, then, can be
obligatory when evil has control.

        Hobbes, on the other hand, believes that war is a natural condition of
mankind.   Although Hobbes and Augustine seem to both believe that there needs
to be one source of law (Augustine, God and Hobbes, Social Contracts),...

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