Born on the day of the invasion of the Spanish Armada, Thomas Hobbes himself said he was born the twin of fear. Living with the turmoil of the ongoing English Civil War, Hobbes lived in fear and uncertainty. When he became convinced that the English parliament would turn against King Charles I, Hobbes fled to France, where he later wrote Leviathan, his most significant work, considered one of the most influential political and philosophical texts of the 17th century. In this work, and, more generally, in Hobbes's political thought, the effects of fear evidently play a central role in the formulation of his theories. It is clear that Hobbes perceives and applies fear, both as a catalyst for chaos and as a force for good. Referring to human nature, Hobbes argues that in the banal anarchist society, people would live with constant fear, which in turn would push them to commit criminal acts for the sake of their own survival or well-being. He also points out that a certain amount of fear towards Leviathan, the supreme ruler, is necessary to create loyalty and maintain respect. Therefore, fear plays a significant yet versatile role in Hobbes' political thought. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay From the principles of self-preservation and through the distinction between the law of nature and the right to nature, Hobbes founded the basic principles of his political Thought. He stated that the fear of death and compromising personal safety, survival and security would outweigh any other fears. From this premise Hobbes then deduced that the nature of mankind was brutal and individualistic, unless governed by a strong central power. Hobbes stated that in the chaotic anarchic society that would eventually emerge in the absence of such a central power, the lives of men would be characterized by constant fear and would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” (Hobbes, 82) . With an inherent scarcity of resources, perpetual conflict would emerge, pitting every individual in society against each other. Hobbes stated that it would be difficult to end this conflict since no human possesses complete physical or mental superiority and, from an aggregate point of view, humans must be considered very equal in strength and ability. He supports this argument by applying it to the enforcement of contracts. Hobbes argues that in an anarchic society contracts and covenants would not be honored, or would be honored only for a short period of time. If either party suspects that the other is planning to break the contract, they would act preemptively. Therefore, it is clear that Hobbes places significant value on fear and its effects in human decision making and attributes much of the tumultuousness and uncertainty to the importance of fear, in the absence of a strong centralized ruling power. Hobbes postulated that to maintain security and peace, people would have to sacrifice a number of liberties and liberties and respect the authority of Leviathan. Highly authoritative and omnipotent, Leviathan is depicted as a leader who has uncompromising legitimacy, as long as he serves to protect and govern his people, and as a leader free to rule in an absolutist manner. Hobbes states that Leviathan's order should always be obeyed, lest it conflict with personal survival and unless Leviathan no longer serves to protect his people. Therefore, it is clear that Hobbes argues that people should, to some extent, fear their leader, in ways that strengthen their.