"Life itself is but Motion, and can never be without Desire, nor without nor without Feare, no more than without Sense."Born prematurely due to his mother's alarm at the approaching of the Spanish Armada, Hobbes lived through the civil war that ended with the execution of Charles I and the protectorate of Cromwell and was at one time the tutor to the Prince of Wales in exile. It was perhaps the political upheaval of his day that inspired him to set forth what he called a "science of politics". Its aim - to develop a body of knowledge about man and society that would enable stable government and a peaceful state. His major work, the Leviathan , traces the development of a Commonwealth through man joining in social compact and awarding power to a sovereign. They sacrifice personal freedom for security of person and property.("Leviathan")
Hobbes regards man as motivated purely by self interest. He sees "restless desire of power after power" as "a general inclination of mankind". Thus man in a "state of nature" lives in constant conflict, suffering and fear. His life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". Groups of men therefore enter into covenant with a sovereign whose major role is protection, keeping the peace. The members of the "commonwealth" so formed are bound to obey the sovereign but must himself be above such laws, or he would no longer be sovereign. Hobbes lived in troubled times; hence his emphasis on the need for peace. He left England to escape the civil war.
Hobbes took the deductive method of reasoning used by scientists to analyse the physical universe and sought to apply it to human activity. He starts with the fundamental Galilean principle that everything is simply matter in motion and develops the claim in relation to humans, their senses, thoughts and passions. He even bases his ethics on this, distinguishing between "vital" motions such as functioning of organs and "voluntary" motions associated with desires. In a natural state, man moves towards what he wants and collides with others similarly engaged. The natural conflict between men following similar desires is what necessitates the imposition of strong sovereign powers.