Is the King Law or is the Law King? Rex Lex or Lex Rex Is the King Law or is the Law King?

Louis XIV of France (reigned 1643-1715) Perhaps the best known advocate for the Divine Right of Kings, or Absolute Monarchy is this is also known as. Le’tat c’est moi. “The state is me.”

Definition: Divine Right of Kings The divine right of kings or divine right is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving the right to rule directly from the will of God. “Divine Right of Kings,” Wikipedia.

Definition: Absolutism Absolute monarchy or absolutism is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch has absolute power among his or her people. An absolute monarch wields unrestricted political power over the sovereign state and its people.

Definition: Constitutional Monarchy A constitutional monarchy, limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy (also crowned republic), is a form of monarchy where the governing powers of the monarch are restricted by the terms of a constitution.

James I of England (1603-24) Perhaps the earliest advocate of the Divine Right of Kings. This would be a distinctive of the Stuart family kings (James I, Charles I, and Charles II).

Charles I (1623-1649) “Rex Non Potest Peccare” Advocated the Divine Right of Kings, but provoked much resistance for acting upon this theory. The foundation of the Divine Right of Kings is Rex Lex (The King is Law). “Rex Non Potest Peccare” “The king can do no wrong.”

Lex Rex, by Samuel Rutherford Rutherford was a Scottish minister who attacked the claim of the Divine Right of Kings. Lex Rex defends the idea that the King is under law, and advocates the lawfulness of defensive wars and resistance against tyranny. Lex Rex would become one of the foundational defenses of the American War for Independence.

Social Contract Theory A social contract is an act by which individuals agree to form a government According to social contract theory, governments are established by the people who combine to achieve some goal Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two of the early social contract theorists. They hypothesized the existence of a state of nature prior to any government

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) Wrote Leviathan during the English Civil War. Name comes from the Biblical Leviathan, from Job 41, meaning a large sea creature or whale. Had a robust view of original sin and the moral limitations arising from it.

Calvin and Hobbes While there are not many similarities between Calvin, Hobbes, and the cartoon, both John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes shared pessimstic views on human nature.

Hobbes’ Leviathan State of nature is war. The moral limitations of the Fall lead to constant conflict. Therefore, a strong sovereign must be put in charge, uniting the civil, ecclesiastical legislative, executive, and judicial branches under his authority.

Hobbes’ Leviathan Describes commonwealth as an "artificial person" and as a body politic that mimics the human body The frontispiece to the first edition of Leviathan, which Hobbes helped design, portrays the commonwealth as a gigantic human form built out of the bodies of its citizens, the sovereign as its head The image constitutes the definitive metaphor for Hobbes's perfect government His text attempts to prove the necessity of the Leviathan for preserving peace and preventing civil war

Leviathan, State of Nature “In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently, not culture of the earth, no navigation, nor the use of commodities that may be imported by sea, no commodious building, no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force, no knowledge of the face of the earth, no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Hobbes’ Leviathan For Hobbes, civil war was the ultimate terror, the definition of fear itself. He thus wanted to reform philosophy in order to reform the nation and thereby vanquish fear. The goal of government is peace and security.

Hobbes’ Leviathan Civil peace and social unity are best achieved by the establishment of a commonwealth through social contract Ideal commonwealth is ruled by a sovereign power responsible for protecting the security of the commonwealth and granted absolute authority to ensure the common defense.

Hobbes: Contributions Originator of social contract theory. Recognized that people come together to form governments based on common interest. Recognized that government must be strong enough to protect the common interest, namely, collective security. Believed that the role of government was to protect the people from evildoers.

John Locke (1632-1704) Author of Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration. In opposition to Hobbes, he believed that man in the state of nature is characterized by reason and tolerance.

Locke: Second Treatise on Gov’t Governing principle: liberty rather than security. Places sovereignty in hands of the people People are equal and invested with natural rights in a state of nature in which they live free from outside rule.

Locke: Second Treatise on Gov’t People take what they need from the earth, but hoard just enough to cover their needs Eventually, people begin to trade their excess goods with each other, until they develop a common currency for barter, or money Money eliminates limits on the amount of property they can obtain (unlike food, money does not spoil), and they begin to gather estates around themselves and their families.

Locke: Second Treatise on Gov’t People exchange some of their natural rights to enter into society with other people, and be protected by common laws and a common executive power to enforce the laws People need executive power to protect their property and defend their liberty The civil state has power over the people only insofar as it exists to protect and preserve their welfare

Locke: Second Treatise on Gov’t Locke describes a state with a separate judicial, legislative, and executive branch--the legislative branch being the most important of the three, since it determines the laws that govern civil society People have the right to dissolve their government, if that government ceases to work solely in their best interest. The government has no sovereignty of its own--it exists to serve the people

Locke: Summary Locke's model consists of a civil state Built upon the natural rights common to a people who need and welcome an executive power to protect their property and liberties Government exists for the people's benefit and can be replaced or overthrown if it ceases to function toward that primary end Consent of the governed – enter into social contract to protect property and ensure liberty

Locke: Contributions Separation of powers in executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Government exists to protect inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property. People enter into social contract to protect life, liberty, and property.

Conclusions: People cannot survive on their own without the presence of government Man truly is a political animal To get what is most important (security, liberty, property), people must give their consent to be governed and enter into a social contract