It wasn’t only a rich culture that could be accredited to the period of Renaissance, medieval feudalism was also replaced by independent states – republics and monarchies – that rose as a result of constant attempts in forging a humanist political philosophy. While in England the monarchy was overthrown in a civil war, it was restored after a short period of republican Commonwealth as a relatively new governing system of ‘constitutional monarchy’, which worked and was subjected to the approval of Parliament. It was also during the period when Thomas Hobbes wrote his famous piece of work, Leviathan: an examination of society and government. Though his work undoubtedly transpired from the horrors of experiencing a civil war, and hence he started that a ‘state of nature’ – without political order, freedom to everyone to act for their personal gain, where each person is against another in a battle of primitive survival like that in nature for animals is where life is solitary, poor, brutish and short. And he suggested a solution to this, like many philosophers before him, to form civilized societies under a sovereign ruler where the public is under a social contract in return for mass prosperity and security.
Introduction
How do we really define Philosophy? The Greek word φιλοσοφία – Philosophia. Or as the term has been coined by modern Western language – Philosophy. The literal meaning of this word is relatively static. Derived from its Greek origin it comprises two separate words...
