Clearly, Zootopia functions because of a Social Contract in which animals have agreed not to harm other animals and to allow individual freedoms (hence the motto “Anyone can be Anything”), and to submit to the authority of government and the Zootopia Police Department (ZPD). The city is the product what can be accomplished by overcoming dark natural tendencies and pursuing common goals. The magnificent city of Zootopia was created when animals sought to seek peace with one another, which happens to be Hobbes’ First Law of Nature. Judy says that there was an explicit coming together when animals agreed to live in society. Judy describes the progress of mammal-kind from the State of Nature to the formation of Zootopia, a gleaming monument to animal harmony. Hobbes argues that will hate the State of Nature so much that we come together to form a Social Contract in which we transfer our rights to the Sovereign. It is the product what can be accomplished by overcoming dark natural tendencies and pursuing common goals. The city is a symbol of harmony in the animal world. Judy Hopps, narrating the same play at the county fairĮventually, the animals came to together to join in society, and the magnificent city of Zootopia was created. the great city of Zootopia, where our ancestors first joined together and declared that ‘Anyone can be Anything!’” “But over time we moved beyond our primitive, savage ways…. It is the foundation of the animals Fears about predators which develop later in the plot. The filmmakers are letting it be known right off the bat that this is the lens that Zootopia will use in this story. Hobbes alert! This is the same description Hobbes gives for his State of Nature. Zootopia didn’t exist, and animals were left to fend for themselves in an undeveloped world. Throughout the movie, the story elaborates on the primitive old days before Zootopia, were prey lived in constant Fear of the predators. These are the very first words spoken in the film, and they set up a grim picture of ancient times for the animal kingdom. Judy Hopps, narrating a play at a county fair Thousands of years ago, these were the forces that ruled our world.” The first two quotes are from the opening scene of the film, which takes the form a children’s play at a county fair-style event. The bulk of this post will present a series of quotes from the film, presented chronologically, that illustrate the Hobbesian theme. The harmonious city is torn apart, and our protagonist Judy Hopps will play a crucial role in reuniting it. Strange instances of some members of predator species “going savage” and attacking other animals is stirring up Fear in the city and causing discrimination against predators. It also represents the divisions in our own society about race. The central issue of the film tests the social contract of Zootopia. I couldn’t dig up any interviews that mention Hobbes as a source of inspiration, but the use of Fear here makes him very apropos. In this article, the directors mention both Fear in society and the social contract. There is clearly a social contract element to the film, so Fear in Philosophy head researcher Serge Engine and I tried to find out if the filmmakers had a social contract in mind when they made the movie. In the film, Judy Hopps, a small-town bunny, is the first bunny to become a police officer in Zootopia, an animal metropolis where “anyone can be anything.” Zootopia is the product of all mammals coming together and living peacefully in a community. I think it is also an elaborate Hobbesian allegory. Zootopia is a kid’s movie about a spunky bunny and a con-artist fox who stumble upon a massive conspiracy and help save the city of Zootopia. Now that it’s out on Netflix, I thought it would be a good time to put on the Hobbes-colored glasses and flesh out those ideas in a post. I saw Disney’s Zootopia when it was in theaters last spring, and it occurred to me that the movie hit on my Hobbesian ideas on Fear. Ever since I started this site, I’ve been finding Fear in some interesting places.
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