Analysis Of Thomas Hobbes Social Contract Theory

Man in nature is asocial. Rousseau, who writes later than Hobbes, doesn’t even appear to take issue with Hobbes’s statement that man is relatively equal to his fellows, and “the

There were many philosophers in the 17th and 18th century that influenced and inspired the founders of our country. For instance, John Locke believed that life, liberty, and property should be our natural rights as humans and if the government could not secure these rights then the people could get rid of them. That idea impacted Thomas Jefferson when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. This was the perfect time to develop different theories and contradictions because this was right around the time of the printing press and protestant reformation where people started to question the catholic church. Other philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau impacted founders like George Washington and James Madison who have positively affected this country in many different ways.

There is only constant fear of violence and death, and hence the life of man will be solitary, poor, brutal, nasty, and short as Hobbes mentions. So, according to him we need moral and legal rules to help everyone flourish. Everyone must come together and form certain rules, and everyone must agree to these rules. That is to say they enter a sort of some form of social contract.

Hobbes developed the ‘social contract theory’, which is the idea that civilians give up some of their freedom and liberty for protection from the leader. This concept, which was used during Hobbes’s time, is still a part of the government today. Hobbes brings down this concept in his world famous book, Leviathan. A picture of a ‘giant’ monarch holding onto a tiny world is used to describe his version of the social contract. The drawing depicts the trade of freedom for safety.

Hobbesian Theory in Lord of the Flies The question of whether man is inherently good or evil has been debated amongst religions, philosophers, and many great thinkers since the beginning of man itself. On one hand, there are those who believe we as humans are naturally moral beings, and it is society that makes us evil. However, others argue society is not only good, but needed to control our inhumane and animalistic tendencies. One of the most famous believers in this theory is English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes.

First of all, the social contract theory, is the view that persons ' moral and political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live. This means that in order to live in a good society people must follow established rules and not act on their own natural state. This social contract theory is associated with modern moral and political theory and is given its by Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are the best known proponents of this enormously influential theory. A little bit of background of Thomas Hobbes, he born in 1588 and died in 1679,he also lived during the most crucial period of early modern England 's history.

The issue raised in the Thomas hobbes theory, represent an aspiration, not a reality. Nonetheless, the Theory is a giant step toward absolute security, but many unresolved argument are counter posed to it. • Life in the state of nature may well be ‘‘solitary’’ and ‘‘poor.’’ It may be a life of fear, insecurity, and barbarism.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Hobbes, two titans of the Enlightenment, work within similar intellectual frameworks in their seminal writings. Hobbes, in Leviathan, postulates a “state of nature” before society developed, using it as a tool to analyze the emergence of governing institutions. Rousseau borrows this conceit in Discourse on Inequality, tracing the development of man from a primitive state to modern society. Hobbes contends that man is equal in conflict during the state of nature and then remains equal under government due to the ruler’s monopoly on authority. Rousseau, meanwhile, believes that man is equal in harmony in the state of nature and then unequal in developed society.

One of the many philosophers that were critical of society was Thomas Hobbes. Many of his thoughts challenged political thoughts and were strikingly radical to other ideas. He believed that people naturally were cruel, greedy, and selfish and therefore they would genuinely wish to fight, rob, and oppress one another. A controversy that Hobbes wanted to be answered was how humans can live together in unity, while steering clear of the chaos experienced in civil conflict. In society, he thinks there should be a social contract that gives up freedom for security to protect one another.

After analyzing the varying social contract theories, my paper explains why Hobbes’s perspective reflect today’s society more than the other two theories. The very first point Hobbes bring up in his theory is that all men are naturally self interested. He states, “Given that men are naturally self-interested, yet they are rational, they will choose to submit to the authority of a Sovereign in order to be able to live in a civil society, which is conducive to their own interest”(3). This statement mirror today’s society because most people are motivated to do things that’ll benefit them in a long run.

Hobbes was an English philosopher, known through out the world as the author of “Leviathan” which is regarded as one of the earliest examples of the social contract theory. His writings were greatly influenced by the

The secondary literature on Hobbes's moral and political philosophy (not to speak of his entire body of work) is vast, appearing across many disciplines and in many languages. There are two major aspects to Hobbes's picture of human nature. As we have seen, and will explore below, what motivates human beings to act is extremely important to Hobbes. The other aspect concerns human powers of judgment and reasoning, about which Hobbes tends to be extremely skeptical. Like many philosophers before him, Hobbes wants to present a more solid and certain account of human morality than is contained in everyday beliefs.

While Hobbes also states that the human nature does not allow for the people to live in peace and to pursue common goals since “here are very many that think themselves wiser and abler to govern the public better than the rest” (Hobbes 3). respectively, there always exists the notion of competition, and if there is no possibility to reach consensus over the issue, there is the need for establishing an authority. This is the reflection of the social contract idea in the work by Hobbes as far as the author is concerned that only through common action and goals the society is able to function without problems and conflicts. Nevertheless, even though, in contrast to Machiavelli, Hobbes suggests the way of getting power that is based on agreement rather than on power and intellectual games, their ideas regarding the need for a strong ruler who would be able to establish the order in the society is rather similar, even though in one case this task is taken by a person himself and in the other case delivered by the

Thomas Hobbes, born April 5, 1588, was a philosopher who is considered one of the founding fathers of political philosophy. He wrote the book Leviathan, which is regarded as a masterpiece by many historians. Many political questions and topics are the point of interest when it comes to discussing Hobbes’ views. These topics include the idea that the best form of government is a representative democracy, a good way to make laws is for all the people to directly vote on them, religion should be a part of the government, and even the proposition that the government should have the authority to confiscate a person’s property for the public good. Many of these Hobbes would be in favor of.

Thomas Hobbes proposed that the ideal government should be an absolute monarchy as a direct result of experiencing the English Civil War, in which there was internal conflict between the parliamentarians and the royalists. Hobbes made this claim under the assumption that an absolute monarchy would produce consistent policies, reduce conflicts and lower the risk of civil wars due to the singular nature of this ruling system. On another hand, John Locke counters this proposal with the view that absolute monarchies are not legitimate as they are inconsistent with the state of nature. These two diametrically opposed views stem from Hobbes’ and Locke’s different understandings of human nature, namely with regard to power relationships, punishment, and equality in the state of nature. Hobbes’ belief that human beings are selfish and appetitive is antithetical with Locke’s contention that human beings are intrinsically moral even in the state of nature, which results in Locke’s strong disagreement with Hobbes’ proposed absolute monarchy.