Upload
redge-r
View
50.797
Download
8
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Citation preview
THOMAS HOBBES AND JOHN LOCKE
Nature of ManState of NatureSocial Contract Theory
John Locke Thomas Hobbes
Nature of Man
State of Nature
Social Contract
NATURE OF MAN
God makes man naturally free to pursue life, liberty, health, and
property as natural rights.
A human being is by nature a social animal
Humanity ought not to harm others in their life, health,
liberty, or possessions and in turn expect their own rights
to respected
NATURE OF MAN
Man is not a social animal; that is, society is
impossible without the coercive power of a state.
Human beings are neither by nature selfish nor rational
Human beings are programmed, mechanical objects to pursue self-interested ends, without regard for
anything other than the avoidance of pain and the incentive of pleasure
human judgment is distorted by self-interest and can be easily swayed with rhetoric that is often neither directed
toward the public good nor the individual's good.
STATE OF NATURE
It is the natural condition of mankind, is a state of perfect and complete
liberty to conduct one’s life as one best sees fit, free from the interference of
others
. The State of Nature is pre-political, but it is not pre-moral. Persons are assumed to be equal to one another in such a state,
and therefore equally capable of discovering and being bound by the Law
of Nature. The Law of Nature, which is (on Locke’s view) the basis of all morality, and
given to us by God, commands that we not harm others with regards to their “life,
health, liberty, or possessions”
STATE OF NATUREIn the State of Nature, men are naturally and exclusively self-
interested, they are more or less equal to one another, (even the strongest
man can be killed in his sleep), there are limited resources, and yet there is
no power able to force men to cooperate.
State of Nature can be unbearably brutal. No long-term or complex
cooperation is possible because the State of Nature can be aptly described
as a state of utter distrust. It is the state of perpetual and unavoidable
war.
SOCIAL CONTRACT
WHAT IS A SOCIAL CONTRACT AND WHY DO WE NEED TO FORM A
CIVIL SOCIETY?”
We give up our right to ourselves exact retribution for crimes in
return for impartial justice backed by overwhelming force. We retain the right to life and liberty, and gain the right to just, impartial
protection of our property.
It is the preservation of their wealth, and preserving their
lives, liberty, and well-being in general.
WHAT IS A SOCIAL CONTRACT AND WHY DO WE NEED TO FORM A
CIVIL SOCIETY?”
WHAT IS A SOCIAL CONTRACT AND WHY DO WE NEED TO FORM A
CIVIL SOCIETY?”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 interests.
To ensure their escape from the State of Nature, they must both agree to live
together under common laws, and create an enforcement mechanism for the social contract and the laws that
constitute it.
“WHAT IF THE PEOPLE VIOLATED THE CONTRACT?”
They must be punished with accordance on the existing
laws of the civil society
“WHAT IF THE RULER VIOLATED THE CONTRACT?”
“WHAT IF THE RULER VIOLATED THE CONTRACT?”
When the king becomes a tyrant and acts against the interests of the
people, they have a right, if not an outright obligation, to resist his
authority. The social compact can be dissolved and the process to create
political society begun anew.
If a ruler seeks absolute power, if he acts both as judge and participant in disputes, he puts himself in a state of war with his subjects and we have the right and the
duty to kill such rulers and their servants.
REVOLUTION
“WHAT IF THE RULER VIOLATED THE CONTRACT”
there can happen no breach of covenant on the part of the
sovereign; and consequently none of his subjects, by any pretence of forfeiture, can be freed from his
subjection.” The ruler’s will defines good and evil for his subjects. The
King can do no wrong, because lawful and unlawful, good and evil, are merely commands, merely the
will of the ruler.
No right to rebel
“ABSOLUTE”
REFERENCES:
http://www.iep.utm.edu/hobmoral/
http://www.iep.utm.edu/locke/#SH2f
http://jim.com/hobbes.html