Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau Social Contract vs. Natural Law

The State of Nature (SON): a state of affairs in which man is at his most natural. Pros Cons No laws Unlimited Freedom Everyone is happy to do whatever they wish. No laws Unlimited freedom Safety an issue Personal possessions almost impossible Kill or be killed

The Prisoner’s Dilemma In the SON, it is best to try and sell out anyone before they can sell you out is often expressed as theoretical game called the prisoner’s dilemma. Let’s say there are two prisoners who were accomplices in a crime and they’ve made a pact to stay silent and not rat out the other person. They’re being interrogated separately by the police so neither knows what the other person is going to do.

If he rats out his friend and his friend stays silent, he’ll go free and his friend will do 10 years (and vice-versa). If both stay silent, they’ll each do six months. If both rat out the other one, they’ll each do two years. So if his partner stays silent, his best option is to rat him out. If his partner betrays him, his best option is again to rat him out. Either way, his best (and rational) move is to betray his partner.

Thomas Hobbes Wrote Leviathan Seeing the violence and behavior of people gave him a dim view of human nature. The State of Nature is “war of every man against every man.” In the SON, people have the inclination to fight and to take preemptive action against others. It is in your interests not to keep contracts or promises There is no police or law in the SON, so nobody is there to keep you honest. In other words, every human MUST look out for #1 and not worry about others or make agreements with others.

In the SON, nobody will ever keep their agreements because it’s in their best interests not to do so. In the SON, everyone also has the right of nature, which means that you may do whatever you see fit to protect your interests, especially your life. Everyone is also roughly equal. Sure there are bigger guys, but they have to sleep sometime. So everyone’s equal in the sense that anyone can kill anyone else.

Hobbes’ Answer A sovereign is the answer--somebody who will enforce contracts and punish wrongdoers. You must form a social contract with others around you in which everyone agrees to give up their rights of nature to someone. This sovereign, in this case an Absolute Monarch, will exercise violence on your behalf should you be wronged. He will create laws and enforce contracts. This is the only way to end the chaos

John Locke For Locke, the SON isn’t the nasty place it is for Hobbes. In the SON, all people have perfect freedom to do what they want, but are still bound by God-given laws of nature. Moreover, everyone is equal because God made them so. A state of war exists when somebody is aggressive towards another’s freedom (which could be enslavement, taking property, or his life) and the victim defends himself (and he has a right to this self-defense).

Locke’s Answer So people form a social contract to create a sovereign and get out of the SON. In this case they create a Representative Democracy. People are willing to give up greater freedom in order to have some security from aggressors. People form societies in order to protect their property: their life, liberty, and property.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains” He says that people create societies to gain freedom from lawlessness, and many times those societies we create don’t give us the freedom we originally asked for. In other words, society has a tendency to repress some while benefiting others. He says the social contract must be made among all the participants. The sovereign is the popular will of the collective whole of which all individuals are a part. Legitimate political authority, he suggests, comes only from a social contract agreed upon by all citizens for their mutual preservation—Pure Democracy.

“that whoever refuses to obey the general will shall be compelled to do so by the whole body. This means nothing less than that he will be forced to be free; for this is the condition which, by giving each citizen to his country, secures him against all personal dependence.” What does this mean? What is the ultimate answer for the chaos for Rousseau?

Hobbes Locke Rousseau Quotes Thoughts Gov’t favored People create gov’t in exchange for law and order People are born with natural rights, but give up some freedom to protect these rights The only good gov’t is one formed out of free will by the people, to protect the people Gov’t favored Absolute Monarchy Self-gov’t Representative Democracy Self-gov’t; Direct Democracy Quotes “In a state of nature, Life is solitary, poor, nasty brutish, and short” “All mankind... being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.” “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. “