The Preservation of Life

Hobbes' Commonwealth stands so long as the principle aim of a human is taken to be the continuation of life. Some objections have been raised in class that ultimately bring alternative purposes of human life into question, and if one is to confront Hobbes it would be on the basis of this primal purpose. If one accepts for instance that the adherence to a specific belief is higher in importance than one's own life, then consent to a Commonwealth could be revoked rationally. The Commonwealth is built around the mutual consent to surrender some of our natural rights in order to better secure our life, which comes first in the order of our interests. As for as the continuation of life is concerned, Hobbes does indeed set forth a bulletproof protocol. Actions are unreasonable for Hobbes because the defy the preservation of life, yet as soon as an action is accompanied by an additional value that supersedes human life one may adopt it, even within the certainty of death, to no danger of lunacy. A new question then arises concerning the existence of any value that may trump the preservation of life in importance.