Perhaps we can understand how Hobbes arrived at his philosophical views, if we remember the events through which he lived. His life and times were tumultuous: arguments between king and parliament; civil wars in England; wars in Europe; Islamic attacks on Europe from the outside. His view of human nature: people are selfish and violent. Hobbes lived through years of physical violence and political power struggles. From this, he may have concluded that humans are essentially barbaric.
Hobbes sided with Charles I against Parliament; translated Homer’s books into English; spoke with Descartes and Galileo about science; spent a few years in Paris; and was friend and teacher of Charles II. His books were misunderstood to be anti-royal or anti-Anglican. He had, in any case, a long and eventful life. He was energetic and productive.
One of his summarizing texts states that human nature has three laws: we seek peace to preserve our lives; we mutually give up rights to preserve peace; we must keep the contracts we make. These lay the foundation for this political and social systems of absolutism: having made a "social contract" in order to secure peace and preserve our lives, we are morally bound to obey royal authority, having traded away our rights.
