Thomas Hobbes Nature and Origins of Human Thought,...

Introduction: The philosophies of Thomas Hobbes are inarguably essential foundations in materialistic thought. Idealists during his time believed that there reality is made up of concepts and nonmatter. In response to the challenge of explaining concepts that seemed only explicable through idealist thinking (such as thoughts and emotions), Hobbes used logic and reasoning to develop materialist theories – some impressively similar in nature to neurobiology. His pessimistic views of society are drawn from events in his personal life, primarily the English Civil War. During this time, the horrid events he witnessed caused him to develop a lack of faith in the nature of man. The concepts he created, as shown in Elements of Law and Leviathan†¦show more content†¦This type of reductionism is fundamental in the sciences – only material things can exist in a material world. â€Å"The Universe, that is, the whole masse of all things that are, is Corporeall, that is to say, Body; and hath the dimensions of Magnitude, namely, Length, Bredth, and Depth: also every part of Body, is likewise Body, and hath the like dimensions; and consequently every part of the Universe, is Body, and that which is not Body, is no part of the Universe.2 These motions can be classified as Motions of Vitall (involuntary) or of Voluntary. These are co-dependent with the Thoughts of Man, of which can be Singly or Trayne. These ideas are then expanded on in a scientific manner. Argument 2: Expanding on these fundamental concepts, Hobbes concludes that motion is the cause of sense becoming thoughts or imagination, for when an external body presses against the human sense apparatus and sets off a series of new motions, these motions will perpetuate until they meet a hindrance. This is a law in also seen in classical mechanics, one of Isaac Newton’s three laws. The length of sensory motion the follows is named decaying sense, which Hobbes calls imagination. Hobbes uses the example of images following the closing of ones’ eyes – an image still persists and the vision must therefore be imagination since it is not longer immediate sensation. When this imagination is constantly being repeated, it then becomes â€Å"memory†. 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