The Social Contract

Law is a system of rules that are enforced through social institutions to govern behaviour. Its main purpose is to protect the rights of individuals. Philosophers play a key role in law because they represent ancient, historical, and contemporary attitudes, and influenced jurisprudence and contemporary legal thought worldwide. Four of the many philosophers who influenced law are Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill. This paper will discuss the similarities and…

Jenna Nudo Philosophy Paper #3 Rousseau vs. Hobbes Hobbes and Rousseau are two philosophers both with a different interpretation of the state of nature for humans. Although they had similar beliefs, Rousseau ultimately disagreed with Hobbes’ way of thinking. Rousseau’s book, “The First and Second Discourses” came a century after Hobbes’ “Leviathan”. Hobbes’ theories consisted of believing that human nature came to be violent but equal naturally. Within his theories, the poorest man can kill the…

terrorism, the monitoring of all electronic devices has become necessary. Although not every American poses a threat to society as a whole, it is necessary to monitor all devices in order to detect these threats and eliminate them. Based on his Social Contract Theory, Hobbes would deem the amount of authority currently possessed by the Federal Government as sufficient, if not lacking. Because the government in the Leviathan is sovereign, it is all powerful and able to do what it deems necessary…

In Thomas Hobbs’s Leviathan, he asserts that to have order in a society there must be an absolute sovereignty to defend against war and conflicts and that within a society, there must be regulation to avoid internal conflict. Hobbs theorizes we must give up our individual rights to a greater governing authority and that doing so is essential to our survival. Indeed, his assertion is valid because human instinct tends to be self-interested; humans will do whatever it takes to survive, so an…

Treatises of Government he discussed that people have their own freedom to do whatever they please but there is a certain limit to those freedoms. One of the biggest ideas from Locke was the social contract. The political doctrine has created four key principles. One principle is a need for a powerful political and social organization. Another principle is a ruler can justify his or her power by an agreement between the ruler and the ruled. How he demonstrated this principle by the statement…

under the rule of government. The purpose of government is to maintain social order and seek for maximum benefit for human. However, the important issue that how human will develop under “state of nature” therefore came out to be discussed. The state of nature is a situation without government, employed in social contract theory in order to justify political authority. The device is most important in the works of the great contract theorists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, mainly…

principles (Boucher& Kelly, 2009). Rousseau attempts to explore what it entails to live a good life. Through his findings, he asserts that freedom is central to being human (Levine, 2002). Rousseau believes that “ the state of nature is neither a social nor a moral condition since nature gives us no…

Thomas Hobbes, a political philosopher who established the social contract theory and became a foundation in Western political philosophy. When presented this claim: "The more equal people are, the easier it is for them to live in peace. If people were perfectly equal, there would be no more wars.", Hobbes response to this assertion would have been rejection, according to his book; The Citizens. He would be at this conclusion because he does not think humans should live in equality. He believes…

his analytic essays with the same title, referring his concerns over his current state and shared his perspectives on the complex formation and motive behind human nature and illustrated his vision of a perfect world by offering his suggestions on social political orders and his hope for the betterment of a peaceful society. For Hobbe, he believe strongly that disregard the amount of available resources that could be distribute to support one’s survival, men will always act as the power hungry…

impede on the lives of others and should be able to practice and or live the life they please. In support of my argument, everyone should be able to live their lives to their full potential without any interference. The only way to create positive social change is through individuals being able to live the life they choose and through expressing their needs in order to better society. We have made errors in the past impeding on people 's lives and today have corrected them. We may still have…