In this essay I intend to examine the political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes and Rene Descartes, in particular their ideas relating to the science of man, and attempt to explain why their ideas prove that it is not possible to construct a science of man.

I will also briefly mention the philosophy of Donald Davidson in regards to a science of man.

The theories of Hobbes and the contemporary socio-biologists attempt to recognise how man works and on that basis build a society.

"Hobbes wished to be seen as the inventor of the science of politics" (Sorrell, p45) He went about this by looking at the psychology of man and discovering that man is a mechanism. Hobbes wanted to understand mechanics. He wanted to look at why men live the way that they do in society and therefore, breaks it down. By doing this he discovered that people are cogs in the social machine. Therefore he wants to examine this cogs to achieve an understanding of the social mechanism, and does this by

By understanding why men act the way that they do, it is easier to come to a conclusion as to how society should be structured.

Therefore it is impossible to agree with any political philosophy that involves the necessity of a science of man.

The res cogitans can will your body to move. The difficulty with Descartes' theory is that the mind and body interact; if you pour boiling water on you hand, you will feel pain. Again we have to take into account voluntary and vital motions.

Hobbes' account of political science is an idea of what man must do if his goal is self-preservation. These ideas are not what mankind will do but what it will have to do, in a rational way, to form a political civilisation.

They all think that rational agents must accept their arguments yet they all have different arguments. They all believe that for a successful political structure human nature cannot be ignored, if the structure is to command respect.

All of this suggests that for Descartes' theory to be correct there must be some kind of connection between a material substance (the body) and an immaterial substance (the mind).

looking at the psychology of the mind.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1352
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)