Final answer:
Thomas Hobbes believed that individuals would enter into a social contract, giving up certain freedoms to a sovereign power, or Leviathan, in exchange for protection and the enforcement of laws of nature to ensure self-preservation, not directly peace. Hence, the claim that peace is the first law of nature according to Hobbes is false.
Step-by-step explanation:
Thomas Hobbes, an influential English philosopher, argued that in the state of nature, human life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" due to constant fear and competition for resources. This led him to theorize that individuals would agree to a social contract, surrendering certain freedoms in exchange for the protection provided by an absolute sovereign power, a Leviathan, to maintain peace and uphold the laws of nature. Therefore, to Thomas Hobbes, the first and foremost law of nature is not directly to seek peace, but rather to secure self-preservation through the establishment of a strong, centralized authority able to enforce social order. So, the statement that the first and foremost law of nature, according to Thomas Hobbes, is to seek peace is False.