Daniel Wilmoth

In the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, spiky-haired young Calvin creates chaos as he navigates a world transformed by his imagination. Teachers and parents become aliens and dinosaurs. His stuffed tiger Hobbes prowls by his side, commenting skeptically and refusing to eat his bully because “[f]at kids are high in cholesterol.”

Calvin and Hobbes was created by Bill Watterson, who studied political science while considering a career as an editorial cartoonist. The stuffed tiger Hobbes is named after the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who, as Watterson put it, held a “dim view of humanity.” Hobbes is best known for Leviathan, published in 1651, where he argues in favor of absolute monarchy as a response to inherent human aggression.

…in the first place, I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death…. Competition of riches, honour, command, or other power, inclineth to contention, enmity, and war; because the way of one competitor to the attaining of his desire is to kill, subdue, supplant, or repel the other. ¹

Hobbes believes our selfish desires create perpetual conflict. We can escape that conflict by agreeing to grant a monopoly on violence to a sovereign power. The sovereign power then enforces a peace under which we can all flourish.

…during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war, and such a war as is of every man against every man…. In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently…no arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear of danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. ²

For Hobbes, the role of the sovereign is defined by the use of force. We find a very different view of government in the teaching of Confucius. Confucius was a moral and political philosopher in ancient China, and Chinese civil servants were trained in his philosophy for thousands of years. Confucius teaches that the proper focus of rulers is not on controlling the public but on controlling themselves.

Ji Kangzi asked Confucius about governing.

Confucius responded, “To ‘govern’ means to be ‘correct’. If you set an example by being correct yourself, who will dare to be incorrect?” ³

Hobbes and Confucius hold different views of government because they hold different views of desire. Hobbes takes desire as given, so behavior must be changed by changing consequences. Confucius sees desire as malleable, and a powerful tool for shaping desire is moral example. By modelling appropriate desires, the sovereign achieves order through “we-wei,” or effortless action.

The Master said, “Is [the sage emperor] Shun not an example of someone who ruled by means of wu-wei? What did he do? He made himself reverent and took his proper [ritual] position facing south, that is all.” ⁴

Hobbes presents a model of religion that reflects the same assumptions as his model of government. Because Hobbes views desires as fixed, religion is defined by beliefs about consequences, “invisible” rewards and punishments. In contract, Confucius views rituals like those that are part of religion as powerful tools for shaping desire.

The Master said, “If you try to guide the common people with coercive regulations and keep them in line with punishments, the common people will become evasive and will have no sense of shame. If, however, you guide them with Virtue, and keep them in line by means of ritual, the people will have a sense of shame and will rectify themselves.” ⁵

Much of Leviathan deals with the relationship between church and state, and Hobbes quotes extensively from the Bible. However, the Christian perspective on desire is more like that of Confucius than that of Hobbes. In the Bible, Jesus emphasizes attitude over behavior, answering a question about the greatest commandment with two commandments about attitude while condemning those with good behavior but bad intentions.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23:27 – 28 NIV)

Hobbes describes life without government as “nasty, brutish, and short.” However, the life under government that Hobbes describes remains brutish, with each of us dissuaded from harming our neighbors only to the extent that we fear our government. Confucius does well to look beyond force for means of cultivating a state. Reforming desires is a graceful way of promoting cooperation and prosperity.

1. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. Edwin Curley (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1994), 58.
2. Hobbes, Leviathan, 76.
3. Confucius, Analects, trans. Edward Slingerland (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1994), 133.
4. Confucius, Analects, 175.
5. Confucius, Analects, 8.

Ji Kangzi was concerned about the prevalence of robbers in Lu and asked Confucius about how to deal with this problem.

Confucius said, “If you could just get rid of your own excessive desires, the people would not steal even if you rewarded them for it.”

Analects 12.18

Dave Ramsey has made a lot of money by talking about money. He peddles financial advice based on the Bible. He started with a radio show, then expanded into newspapers, live events, and popular books. He even sold an “Act Your Wage!” board game with the tagline “First player out of debt wins!”

Eliminating debt is Ramsey’s passion. He counsels listeners to avoid all debt, to pay cash for their houses and perform “plastic surgery” by cutting up their credit cards. The box for the “Act Your Wage!” game features Ramsey holding a credit card between scissor blades. He likes quoting a verse from Proverbs,

The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is slave to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7 NIV)

Ramsey helps listeners escape the burden of debt. However, debt is not always a burden, and those who have escaped debt may still have unhealthy relationships with money. To make good financial decisions, we should look beyond simple rules like avoiding debt and examine our attitudes. Proverbs teaches that our attitudes shape our lives.

As water reflects the face,
so one’s life reflects the heart. (Proverbs 27:19 NIV)

Continue reading “The mirror of the heart”

Prepare your work outside;
get everything ready for yourself in the field,
and after that build your house.

Proverbs 24:27 ESV

In his 1987 movie Wall Street, Oliver Stone tells the story of Gordon Gekko, a stock speculator who will do anything to win. He lies to partners, spies on competitors, and trades on inside information. Gekko defends his greed in a speech inspired by a real speculator of the era, Ivan Boesky.

…Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works…. Greed, in all of its forms…has marked the upward surge of mankind….

The claim that greed “has marked the upward surge of mankind” finds some support in the work of the pioneering economist Adam Smith. Recent centuries have seen a blossoming of technology. Smith describes how these advances depend on the specialization that markets create.

The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which it is any where directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labour…. As it is the power of exchanging that gives occasion to the division of labour, so the extent of this division must always be limited by the extent of that power, or, in other words, by the extent of the market.¹

The role of markets in advancing technology provides some support for claims about the benefits of greed because we generally trade for profit. Smith writes,

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.²

However, thriving markets require more than a desire for profit; thriving markets require trust. When we trade with the public, we face risks like theft and fraud. While we may not rely on the benevolence of the baker for our bread, charity is not the only alternative to trade. Another alternative is predation, and greed undermines trust by encouraging predation. Continue reading “The benevolence of the baker”

Dishonest money dwindles away,
but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

Proverbs 13:11 NIV

The Bible describes a covenant between God and the people of Israel. After Moses leads Israel out of captivity, the people agree to obey God, and God promises to bless the people. It is from this covenant, or testament, that the name of the first part of the Bible, the Old Testament, derives.

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord…said, “This is what you are to…tell the people of Israel: ‘…if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession….’”

So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” (Exodus 19:3 – 8 NIV)

In return for keeping the Mosaic Law, Israel is promised prosperity, victory in battle, and honor among the nations. In return for breaking the Mosaic Law, Israel is promised severe punishment.

The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed…because of the evil you have done in forsaking him…. The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron…. Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. (Deuteronomy 28:20 – 48 NIV)

The Mosaic Law imposes hundreds of restrictions. The most famous commandments prohibit behavior that obviously harms others, like theft and murder. However, the Mosaic Law also includes instructions for diet, hygiene, economic organization, and even a requirement for rest.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…. (Exodus 20:8-10 ESV)

The Mosaic Covenant seems to impose a heavy burden in exchange for a blessing from God. However, compliance with the Mosaic Law is not just a burden. All of the Mosaic Law, not just the requirement to keep a Sabbath, is also about rest. At the core of the Mosaic Law is the reformation of our desires. Our instinctual desires are boundless, and only by reforming our desires can we escape perpetual labor in their service. Continue reading “Burden and rest”

When there is no desire,
all things are at peace.

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 37

In the book of Exodus, God commands Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. They flee into the desert, where they camp near Mount Sinai. God descends on the trembling mountain in fire, covering it in billowing smoke. God summons Moses, and on Mount Sinai God gives him the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments include basic instructions for handling other people. Murder, adultery, theft, and false witness are prohibited. The social theorist René Girard points out that the final commandment differs from those that precede it in addressing not our actions but our desires.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Exodus 20:17 NIV)

Girard argues that the tenth commandment addresses an aspect of our desire that generates the behaviors prohibited in the commandments that precede it. We want what we see our neighbors having or even what we see our neighbors wanting. Such “mimetic” desire creates competition and conflict.

If the Decalogue devotes its final commandment to prohibiting desire for whatever belongs to the neighbor, it is because it lucidly recognizes in that desire the key to the violence prohibited in the four commandments that precede it. If we ceased to desire the goods of our neighbor, we would never commit murder or adultery or theft or false witness. If we respected the tenth commandment, the four commandments that precede it would be superfluous.¹

Girard errs in claiming that the wrongs addressed in the Ten Commandments are always caused by mimetic desire. Mimetic desire can cause us to harm others, but not all harmful desire is mimetic. When Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment, he explains that all of the commandments, including the one against coveting, depend on two more general commandments about attitude.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37 – 40 ESV)

However, mimetic desire does shape our attitudes. In designating two commandments addressing attitude as the greatest commandments, Jesus prioritizes nurturing proper attitudes. The Bible describes several spiritual disciplines through which attitudes can be reformed, including prayer, ritual, and meditation. If our desires can reflect what we see in others as Girard describes, then we can also improve our attitudes by choosing who we see. Socializing can also be a spiritual discipline.

Continue reading “Meeting together”

Someone who associates regularly with certain people, for conversation, or for parties, or simply for the sake of sociability, is bound either to come to resemble them or else to convert them….  Since the risk is thus so great, we should be cautious in entering into such relations…, remembering that it is impossible to rub up against someone covered with soot without getting sooty oneself.

Epictetus, Discourses