There a few things I am uncertain about. Did Hobbes ever explain how the Sovereign is selected? Also, do the characteristics of the natural human condition: selfishness, desire for glory and etc. carry into civil society?
+MSElabE ~ "how the Sovereign is selected? " ~ Kings are chosen by women lying in ponds distributing swords. Everybody knows that . As for your second question, all people in any society subjugate their ambitions to the will of some sovereign authority - whether that be a king, a government, a tyrany, Caliphate or whatever. It is not a matter of whether those qualities flow from the sovereign into society; they are endemic and, in Hobbes as in Aristotle, society is based on self awareness of those realities: "Yet the natural inclinations of men toward power always impel them to break contracts. Without the fear of punishment for breaking contracts, men will break them whenever it is immediately advantageous for them to do so. Thus the basic social contract of the commonwealth must vest power in one central, sovereign authority, with power to punish those who break the contract. " [Leviathan, Part II: “Of Commonwealth”]
I'm pretty sure that this is not conservative propaganda, though Russell is biased to a degree here, also it is an understatement to say that Hobbes was incredibly influential in social contract theory.
a royalist " and he wields the battle axe rather than the rapier...." "....grave defects prevent him from being in the front rank..." B Russell Also, the first 45 secs worth price of admission alone
Hobbes is one of those rare thinkers that is simultaneously brilliant and dead wrong most of the time. He kind of reminds me of Robert Heinlein, in that regard.
Religion deals with things we aught to do (e.g. Love our enemies). Science deals with things we want to do (e.g. Defeat our enemies). This explains why science is more important than religion, especially for governments. In this respect, unusually, governments are more advanced than the general population.
Since works. Simple as that. Religions premise aka " my cultural preferred be version of a invisible superbeeing or/and denomination " is correct and the rest is wrong ( maybe even needs eliminated because MY invisible superbeeing said so ) fails in literally every way possible.
