Thomas Hobbes and Cognitive Difference

The cover of Thomas Hobbes' book "Leviathan" (1651)

In this blog post, I will be giving insights into how the early modern political thinker Thomas Hobbes theorised about what we now know as neurodivergence. Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan offers an early modern view of the mind that helps explain why people think differently. By grounding all thought in physical processes rather than the supernatural, Hobbes makes space for natural variations in imagination, reasoning, and emotion. Although he doesn’t have a concept of neurodivergence, his attempt to understand mental differences as part of ordinary human nature provides a useful lens for thinking about how ideas about the mind have developed over time. 

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) was mainly known as a political thinker, mostly famously because of his book Leviathan (1651), which he wrote during the English Civil War. That time period is important to understand, since Hobbes was essentially trying to figure out how to keep society from falling apart due to violence. But when I read Leviathan, what struck me wasn't just his political ideas. It was how much his political theory relies on his ideas about how the human mind works. 

(Hobbes describes the state of nature as a “warre of every man against every man” (Hobbes, 1651/1985, p. 185).) 

Hobbes had a very physical, material view of the mind. He thought everything starts with what we sense. We see or hear something, and it starts something moving in our bodies. That movement keeps going as a memory or something we imagine, even after the thing we saw or heard is gone. He didn't think there was anything supernatural about thinking. It's all about physical processes going on. Back in the 1600s, that was a relatively radical idea. 

(Hobbes writes that “The cause of Sense, is the Externall Body…” and that imagination is “nothing but decaying sense” (Hobbes, 1651/1985, pp. 85–89).) 

I found it interesting that this idea automatically makes room for differences between people. If our thoughts come from our bodies and what we experience, then it makes sense that people won't all think the same way, because (as early modern medicine and humoral theory recognised), people’s bodies could be very different.. Hobbes doesn't say everyone has the same brain power or thinks the same way. He actually talks about how people are different. For example, when he talks about wit, he says some people are quicker at putting ideas together, while others are slower or don't think as consistently.

He doesn't immediately say it's bad if you aren't quick. It's just that minds work differently. When you read this now, it's hard not to think about things like attention differences, how fast someone can process information, or how well they focus. Of course, Hobbes isn't talking about cognition in depth, but he knows that how people think can vary quite a bit. 

(Hobbes distinguishes between “quicknesse of imagination” and “slow” wit (Hobbes, 1651/1985, pp. 94–96).) 

He also talks about what he calls ‘madness’. Back then, that word covered a wide range of ways of thinking and behaving. What matters, though, is that Hobbes talks about these actions like they're normal and naturally occurring. He doesn't say people are possessed by evil or being punished by God.

Instead, he says it's caused by things not balanced in their imagination or emotions. In other words, it's still the same mental faculty that everyone has, it’s just working in a way that is different or is too extreme. It is interesting to note that during the time period Hobbes was writing, views on mental illness were moving away from religious, whereby certain acts (such as self-harm or suicide) would have sent people to hell, and towards a more compassionate approach.  

(Hobbes writes that “Madnesse is nothing else but some of the Passions… when they are too vehement” (Hobbes, 1651/1985, p. 102).) 

This is interesting because it takes the ideas about mental disorders away from religion and what is supposed to be morally correct. Still, Hobbes is not saying that all forms of thinking differently should be treated the same in politics. His whole political theory depends on people being able to control themselves rationally. He believes society can only be orderly if people can control their emotions. So, even if he explains variations in thinking as normal, he still sees being consistently rational as what people should try to achieve. 

(Hobbes argues that peace depends upon following the “Lawes of Nature,” which are “dictates of Reason” (Hobbes, 1651/1985, p. 189).) 

There's an issue here – Hobbes says cognitive differences are normal, but he also creates a political system that favours certain ways of thinking. So, he understands that there are differences, but they're still restricted in his system. 

(It is the Sovereign who determines public doctrine and maintains order (Hobbes, 1651/1985, pp. 227–228).) 

It wouldn't be right to say that Hobbes predicted modern day thinking when it comes to neurodiversity. That would force our ideas today onto a time way back when that had vastly different ideas. But viewing his work in this light does let people see that even in the early modern period people were already trying to understand changes in the human mind. They were wondering why people’s minds worked differently, and what that meant for who was in charge and who was responsible, and society as a whole. 

(Hobbes consistently explains mental processes in terms of motion and natural causes rather than divine intervention (Hobbes, 1651/1985, pp. 85–90).) 

I think that Hobbes shows that philosophy back then was thinking about these ideas in ways that were complex. He doesn't just divide people into two groups: those who are rational and those who are not and provide no explanation for this. Instead, he tries to say everything the mind does, including ‘weird’ or ‘troubling’ actions, comes from natural happenings and processes alone. Even if his political beliefs wouldn't be what someone today would consider the most accepting, he rejected the idea that anything to do with the supernatural caused these issues and that represents a progressive change in thinking. 

(Hobbes grounds thought and passion in “motion” within the body (Hobbes, 1651/1985, p. 87).) 

So, Hobbes doesn't have a theory of neurodivergence as such, but he does add to the long history of trying to understand changes in the human mind as a part of what makes us human, not something that is removed from it.  

Why this topic was particularly interesting to me is that, as a philosophy and politics undergraduate student, we often read and cite Hobbes and Leviathan. As an autistic person myself, being able to look at Hobbes through this lens has been really insightful in understanding how we have evolved our thinking into the modern attitudes towards neurodiversity as a whole. 

Bibliography 

Herbert, G. B. (1989). Thomas Hobbes: The unity of scientific and moral wisdom. University of British Columbia Press. 

Hobbes, T. (1985). Leviathan (C. B. Macpherson, Ed.). Penguin Books. (Original work published 1651) 

Biography:  

My name is Grace Webb. I am currently an undergraduate student at Swansea University studying Philosophy and Politics. I take an interest in neurodiverse studies as I was diagnosed autistic at age 6 and this has greatly shaped my understanding of the world. I have been privileged to partake in an internship with the AMEND project and am eager to see where the project goes next.