8
Their consequences are also different: ignorance of natural causes produces credulity
whereas lack of understanding sets the stage for misunderstanding and intolerance. For
example, because of the ignorance of the precise meaning of words, men term “heresy”
what is simply a private opinion that they “mislike.” (p. 165).
Hobbes drafts his argument in this section much as a musician composes a piece
of music. Having begun with the theme of ignorance, he shows its several variations and
reveals how each contributes differently to the way that men put their confidence in
others. This movement of thought reaches a crescendo (albeit a cagey one) with his
cryptic discussion of the effects of persuasion on action:
From the same it also proceedeth, that men cannot distinguish, without study and
great understanding, between one action of many men, and many actions of one
multitude; as for example, between the one action of all the Senators of Rome in
killing Catiline, and the many actions of a number of senators in killing Caesar;
and therefore are disposed to take for the action of the people, that which is a
multitude of actions done by a multitude of men, led perhaps by the persuasion of
one. (p. 165).
The senators of Rome decided together to condemn Catiline, the usurper who was
killed in battle after losing the consular election to Cicero,
9
but through the influence of
one speaker, presumably Brutus, a series of actions led to the killing of Caesar. Here
Hobbes seems to draw attention to the way in which Brutus’s power of persuasion instills
the motives in other men that he wished them to have. His own motives remained
unseen.
Hobbes’s overall strategy in this section is clearly to instill skepticism toward
eloquent, ambitious men. If it requires “study and great understanding” to unveil the
motives of persuasive, private men, Hobbes provides some of the tools needed for this
task. “No one can make you feel inferior without your permission,” Eleanor Roosevelt is
alleged to have said. Divisive leaders cannot get credit with the people without the people
9
See Robert Tuck, ed. Leviathan, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), p.
lxx. Hobbes also discusses Catiline in De Cive, Chapter 12, p. 139.
Convention