Leviathan

When a human reasons, they conceive a sum based on the addition or subtraction of one thing to another. The same process can be applied to thoughts and words. Thoughts are nothing more than the consequences of a name, either in whole or in part, to another name, itself either in whole or in part. Numbers can be added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided; however, so can thoughts and words. Mathematicians work with numbers, geometricians work with lines and figures, and philosophers work with words and thoughts. Philosophers concerned with politics work with laws and duties that are either right or wrong in relation to private humans. Wherever there is addition and subtraction of one thing to another, there is also reason. 

Reason, Hobbes says, “is nothing but Reckoning (that is, Adding and Subtracting) of the Consequences of generall names agreed upon, for the marking and signifying of our thoughts.” Just as in mathematics, those inexperienced in the reasoning of words and thoughts are bound to make false conclusions, and even the most practiced people can fall prey to errors. Reason in words and thoughts is not always correct, as it is in mathematics, and one person’s reason cannot be made certain. When people think themselves wiser than others in general and consider their own reason definite, this makes for an unbearable society for others.

The purpose of reason in words and language is not to find one total sum or absolute truth; instead, reason should begin with a myriad of sums and truths and go from there. Thus, there can be no certainty in any conclusion, as there is no certainty in any of the reason in which a conclusion is grounded. When one reckons without words, it is known as an error, and an error can be either false or absurd. A simple deception in thought is an error, but an error that is inconceivable is an absurdity. For instance, when one talks to Hobbes about “accidents of Bread in Cheese; or Immateriall Substances,” he considers such thoughts and words absurd.   

No living creature other than human beings are subject to absurdity, and no one is subject to absurdity more than philosophers. The reason for this absurdity is that philosophers do not begin with established definitions and names. Only the philosophy of geometry begins with established definitions and names, and the conclusions within geometry are therefore certain and irrefutable. The first cause of absurdity is beginning philosophy without established definitions or values, and the second is the “giving of names of bodies, to accidents; or of accidents, to bodies.” In other words, to say that faith is “infused, or inspired; when nothing can be powred, or breathed into any thing,” is absurd.  

The third cause of absurdity is the naming of “accidents” outside the body based on what occurs inside the body. For example, saying “the sound is in the ayre” is absurd. The fourth cause is the giving of universal names, such as claiming “that a living creature is Genus, or a general thing.” The next cause of absurdity is the naming of “accidents” in general, such as is done in claims that “the nature of a thing is its definition,” and the sixth cause is the use of metaphors and rhetoric when proper words will do. In other words, do not say “The Proverb says this or that” when simple speech can be used. The seventh and last cause of absurdity is naming that which signifies nothing, as in the words “transubstantiate” and “consubstantiate.” 

The ability to reason is not born within each person as is the ability to sense objects and create memory, nor is reason accumulated through experience like prudence. Reason is obtained through the naming of things, established definitions, and the connections made from one name to the next. The knowledge of the consequences of one name in relation to another is known as science. Sense and memory are the knowledge of facts; however, science “is the knowledge of Consequences.” Some signs within science are certain, others are not; however, all the signs of prudence are uncertain.