Hobbes Vs. Neitzche

Hobbesian Fright Vs. Neitzschean Might:
Human Nature’s Influence on Morality
Nathan Pang
408-59-6025


Given the options of defending either Neitzsche’s, or Hobbes’s radical views on morality, I must conclude that Neitzsche’s concept of the “Will to Power” is, despite the controversy of the concept of slave morality, at heart the more correct view on the origin of human nature and morality than Hobbes’s theory of Psychological Egoism. Hobbes’s claim that all men are equal is an absurd place to begin an argument, whereas Neitzsche is more in touch with the reality of the hierarchy of human existence.
Hobbes’s theory of psychological egoism is a concept that believes that all men are motivated by desire for pleasure, and avoidance of pain. However, since he believes that the “natural state” of mankind is a state of war, in which everyman is willing to kill another man solely for the purpose of acquiring what he may possess, the fear of death at the han...