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Overview of Social Contract Theories

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) an !ohn "oc#e (16$%-17&')

The central topic is “The Legitimacy of Government,”

aka our “Obligation to Obey the Law.”

As the story goes, throughout the mile ages people believe that !ings were place on

the throne by the "ill of Go. An therefore to isobey the law was e#uivalent to

isobeying the "ill of Go$which in those ays was not an option for ecent people. %fa chil were to ask a parent, “why o we pay ta&es an follow all the rest of the !ing's

law(” the obvious an persuasive answer was, “because it is the "ill of Go.” )n of

story.

*ut history, an therefore that story goes on. +eople an culture an the times becamemore moern, more secular, more #uestioning. The appeal to Go's "ill an the ivine

-ight of !ing's i not work so well, an for some it i not work at all. This create aserious crisis, because the founation of civil society is to have some sense of the

Legitimacy of Government an our Obligation to Obey the Law.

To continue the story, the notion of ocial /ontract came to the rescue, thanks to writers

like 0obbes an Locke 1an -ousseau in 2rance3. Government rests upon a /ontract that

was once mae 4 an that we tacitly all agree to 4 which establishe the government,gives it legitimacy, an obligates us by virtue of our prior consent to obey the law.

0obbes an Locke are both social contract theorists, but with ma5or ifferences. Theefining moment for 0obbes was the e&ecution of !ing /harles %% in 6789, an theisruptive events leaing up to that. 0is Leviathan was publishe 5ust two years later, in

67:6.

The efining moment for Locke was the Glorious -evolution, an the isruptive eventsleaing up to that. 0is econ Treatise on Government was publishe 5ust two years later,

in 67;<.

As you can see from the brief biography below, 0obbes himself was not wealthy, but a

generous uncle put him through O&for an he then spent his life 1as a tutor, an

 perpetual houseguest3 of wealthy an powerful *ritish aristocrats, who were all

traitional supporters of the /rown. 0e took their sie, even into the civil war an eventhrough the beheaing of /harles %% in 6789. 0obbes ha fle to the continent, but was

watching an thinking an writing. %n 67:6 he publishe The Leviathan 4 proviing a

theoretical basis for the concept of a trong =onarchy. %n effect, he was publishing a 5ustification of the )arly tuarts, an a enunciation of the regicie act of beheaing the

!ing. %n his view neither -eason nor >ustice coul 5ustify rebelling against the /rown.

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A few main points that you will see in the 0obbes selection here?

All human 1an other animals3 movement traces to esire @ Aversion.

All our emotions an evaluations of people are thus base on esire an

Aversion 1see ch. 73.

%n the tate of ature everyone has virtually unlimite -ights.

0ence, % have 5ust as much right to the apples you picke as you o. This obviously can lea to confrontation. To war. To his famous phrase that

life in the tate of ature is “nasty, brutish an short.” +eople get esperate, they will to AB thing to have peace, an so?

To create a /ivil ociety an achieve peace, everyone agrees to give up ALL

their rights to the overeign, who will then give back whatever rights he

chooses$but who can recall any of those rights at any time 1an for anyreason, or no reason(3

Locke was born a generation later, an evelope ifferent views. 0e was a C; year olmeical stuent at O&for when /harles %% took the throne in the -estoration of 677<.

)ventually, his views came to the attention of the Later tuart authorities, an in 67;C hewent into e&ile in 0ollan. There were efforts to e&traite him an others back to)nglan, but he staye in 0ollan until after the Glorious -evolution of 67;;. 0e ha by

then written a number of things on government, an his econ Treatise on Government

was publishe in 679<.

A few main points that you wills see in the Locke selection here?

%n the tate of ature people o ot have unlimite rights.

%f % pick some apples, they belong to =) an no one else, because % “mi&e

my labor” with them. 1see /h. :, “Of +roperty”3

imilarly, the soil % plow an the harvest that results is =ine, because %

“mi&e my labor” with the soil. 1see /h. :3  onetheless, in the tate of ature some nasty people are likely to try to take

away things that are 5ustly =ine, an this can lea to conflict.

To create a /ivil ociety an achieve peace, everyone agrees to create a

government an live uner ma5ority rule.

The purpose of the government is to obey the -ule of Law an to promote the

/ommon Goo. 0owever, if the governmentD!ing fails to o these things, the people have a

right to put a new government in place 1as happene in the Glorious

-evolution3.

*elow are two brief biographies. Longer biographies can be foun at?

tanfor )ncyclopeia of +hilosophy

0obbes http?DDplato.stanfor.euDentriesDhobbesDLocke http?DDplato.stanfor.euDentriesDlockeD 

%nternet )ncyclopeia of +hilosophy0obbes http?DDwww.iep.utm.euDhDhobmoral.htm

C

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Locke http?DDwww.iep.utm.euDlDlockeEpo.htm

Thomas Hobbes16:;;E67F93 http://www.egs.edu/resources/hobbes.html

Thomas Hobbes was born at Westport, adjoining Malmesbury in Wiltshire, on April 5, 1588. His father wasthe vicar of a parish. His uncle, who was a tradesman and alderman of Malmesbury, provided for Hobbes'

education. When he was 14 years old he went to Magdalen Hall in Oxford to study, already an excellent

student of Latin and Greek. He left Oxford in 1608, and became the private tutor for the eldest son of Lord

Cavendish of Hardwick (later known as the Earl of Devonshire). He traveled with his pupil in 1610 to France,

Italy, and Germany. He then went to London to continue his studies, where he met other leading scholars like

Francis Bacon, Herbert of Cherbury, and Ben Johnson.

Hobbes maintained his connection to the Cavendish family, however, in 1628 the Cavendish son died, and

Hobbes had to find another pupil. In 1629 he left for the continent again for a two year journey with his new

student. When he returned in 1631 he began to tutor the younger Cavendish son. It was around this time

that Hobbes' philosophy began to take form. His manuscriptShort Tract on First Principles was most likelywritten in 1630. In this piece he uses the geometrical form, inspired by Euclid, to shape his argument.

From 1634 to 1637 Hobbes returned to the continent with the young Earl of Devonshire. In Paris he spent

time with Mersenne and the scientific community that included Descartes and Gassendi. In Florence, he

conversed with Galileo. When he returned to England he wroteElements of law Natural and Politic, which

outlined his new theory. The first thirteen chapters of this work was published in 1650 under the titleHuman

Nature, and the rest of the work as a separate volume entitledDe Corpore Politico. In 1640 he went to

France to escape the civil war brewing in England. He would stay in France for the next eleven years, taking

an appointment to teach mathematics to Charles, Prince of Wales, who came to Paris in 1646.

At this time Hobbes friend Mersenne was encouraging scholars to respond to Descates' forthcoming treatise

Meditationes de prima philosophia. In 1641 Hobbes sent his critique to Descartes in Holland, and they were

published inObjectiones with the publication of the treatise. The two men continued their discourse,

exchanging letters on theDioptrique, which had been published in 1637. Hobbes disagreed with Descartes'

theory that the mind, independent from material reality, was the primal certainty. Hobbes instead used

motion as the basis for his philosophy of nature, mind and society. His correspondence with Descartes led to

a paper on his views on physics and a Tractatus Opticus to works published by Mersenne.

By 1640 Hobbes had plans for his future philosophical work, expecting it to take shape in the form of three

treatises. He planned to begin with matter, or body, then look at human nature, and then society. However,

inspired by the political unrest in his home country, he began instead with the third treatise on society.De

Civewas published in Paris in 1642. When the Commonwealth had reestablished a stable government in

England, Hobbes published the same text in English under the titlePhilosophical Rudiments concerning

Government and Society. The book was highly controversial, and criticized by both sides of the English civil

war. He supported the king over parliament, but also denied the king his divine right. Oxford University

dismissed faculty under the premise of being "Hobbits". Hobbes also ventured controversial views on God

and religion, and the Roman Catholic Church put his books on the Index. In England ther

In 1651 Hobbes returned to England, fearing that France was no longer a safe haven for the exiled English

court. This same year saw the publication ofLeviathan, Hobbes' most influential work. In the introduction to

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the book Hobbes describes the state as an organism, showing how each part of the state functions similarly

to parts of a human body. As the state is created by human beings, he first sets out to describe human

nature. He advises that we may look into ourselves to see a picture of general humanity. He believes that all

acts are ultimately self-serving, even when they seem benevolent, and that in a state of nature, prior to any

formation of government, humans would behave completely selfishly. He remarks that all humans are

essentially mentally and physically equal, and because of this, we are naturally prone to fight each other. He

cites three natural reasons that humans fight: competition over material good, general distrust, and the glory

of powerful positions. Hobbes comes to the conclusion that humanity's natural condition is a state of

perpetual war, constant fear, and lack of morality.

In theLeviathan, Hobbes writes that morality consists of Laws of Nature. These Laws, arrived at through

social contract, are found out by reason and are aimed to preserve human life. Hobbes comes to his laws of

nature deductively, still using a model of reasoning derived from geometry. From a set of five general

principles, he derives 15 laws. The five general principles are (1) that human beings pursue only their own

self-interest, (2) that all people are equal (3) the three natural causes of quarrel, (4) the natural condition of

perpetual war, and (5) the motivation for peace. The first three Laws of Nature he derives from these

principles describe the basic foundation for putting an end to the state of nature. The other twelve laws

develop the first three further, and are more precise about what kind of contracts are necessary to establish

and preserve peace.

Hobbes saw the responsibility of governments to be the protection of people from their own selfishness, and

he thought the best government would have the power of a sea monster, or leviathan. He saw the king as a

necessary figure of leadership and authority. He felt that democracy would never work because people are

only motivated by self-interest. He saw humanity as being motivated by a constant desire for power, and to

give power to the individual would result in a war of every one against the other that would make life "solitary,

poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

After returning to England in 1651, Hobbes had spent a couple of years in London, before retreating to the

home of his former pupil the Earl of Devonshire. In 1654 Hobbes was surprised by an unauthorizedpublication of a tract entitledOf Liberty and Necessity, which he had written in response to an attack by the

bishop Bramhall on Leviathan. Bramhall was enraged by Hobbes response, and Hobbes was prompted to

write a further and more elaborate defense inThe Questions concerning Liberty, Necessity, and Chance,

which was published in 1656. In 1655 Hobbes publishedDe Corpore, the first part of his philosophical

system. This work looks at the logical, mathematical and physical principles that create the foundation of his

philosophy. The second part of his system,De Homine, was published in 1656.

In 1667Leviathan was mentioned in a bill passed in the Commons against blasphemous literature. Although

the bill did not pass both houses, Hobbes was scared into studying the law of heresy, and wrote a short

treatise arguing that there was no court that might judge him. He was forbidden to publish on the topic of

religion. Many of his works were kept from publication, however a Latin translation ofLeviathan waspublished in Amsterdam in 1668. Around this time he also wroteDialogue between a Philosopher and a

Student of the Common Laws of England. Among the titles that remained unpublished during his lifetime are

the tract onHeresy, andBehemoth: the History of the Causes of the Civil Wars of England. He continued to

write, and he wrote his autobiography, in Latin verse, when he was eighty-four years old. In his final years he

completed Latin translations of theIliad and theOdyssey, and in 1675 he left London for the last time to live

with the Cavendish family in Derbyshire. Hobbes died at Hardwick on December 4, 1679.

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John Locke (1632-1704)http://www.egs.edu/resources/locke.html 

John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in Warington, a village in Somerset, England. In 1646 he went toWestminster school, and in 1652 to Christ Church in Oxford. In 1659 he was elected to a senior studentship,

and tutored at the college for a number of years. Still, contrary to the curriculum, he complained that he

would rather be studying Descartes than Aristotle. In 1666 he declined an offer of preferment, although he

thought at one time of taking up clerical work. In 1668 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and in

1674 he finally graduated as a bachelor of medicine. In 1675 he was appointed to a medical studentship at

the college. He owned a home in Oxford until 1684, until his studentship was taken from him by royal

mandate.

Locke's mentor was Robert Boyle, the leader of the Oxford scientific group. Boyle's mechanical philosophy

saw the world as reducible to matter in motion. Locke learned about atomism and took the terms "primary

and secondary qualities" from Boyle. Both Boyle and Locke, along with Newton, were members of the

English Royal Society. Locke became friends with Newton in 1688 after he had studied Newton'sPrincipia

Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis. It was Locke's work with the Oxford scientists that gave him a critical

perspective when reading Descartes. Locke admired Descartes as an alternative to the Aristotelianism

dominant at Oxford. Descartes' "way of ideas" was a major influence on Locke's An Essay Concerning

Human Understanding.

Locke studied medicine with Sydenham, one of the most notable English physicians of the 17th century. His

skills in medicine led to an accidental encounter with Lord Ashley (later to become the Earl of Shaftesbury)

in1666, which would mark a profound change in his career. Locke became a member of Shaftesbury's

household and assisted him in business, political and domestic matters. Locke remained at Shaftesbury's

side when the Earl was made Lord Chancellor in 1672, making presentations to benefices, and eventually

becoming his secretary to the board of trade until 1675, when Shaftesbury lost his title.

Locke's ideas on freedom of religion and the rights of citizens were considered a challenge to the King's

authority by the English government and in 1682 Locke went into exile in Holland. It was here that he

completed An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, and published Epistola de Tolerantia in Latin. The

English government tried to have Locke, along with a group of English revolutionaries with whom he was

associated, extradited to England. Locke's position at Oxford was taken from him in 1684. In 1685, while

Locke was still in Holland, Charles II died and was succeeded by James II who was eventually overthrown by

rebels (after more than one attempt). William of Orange was invited to bring a Dutch force to England, while

James II went into exile in France. Known as the Glorious Revolution of 1688, this event marks the change in

the dominant power in English government from King to Parliament. In 1688 Locke took the opportunity to

return to England on the same ship that carried Princess Mary to join her husband William.

Locke had writtenTwo Treatises of Civil Government in the early 1680s while Whig revolutionary plots

against Charles II were still in the works, and in 1690 he was finally able to publish them. This work is a

theory of natural law and rights in which he makes a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate civil

governments and argues for the legitimacy of revolution against tyrannical governments. He saw that the

reason government is established is to protect the life, liberty and property of a people, and if these goals are

not respected, then rebellion is entirely permissible by the population who originally consented to the

:

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government's power. The first treatise is an attack on Sir Robert Filmer and his textPatriarcha (1680), which

he wrote in defense of divine monarchy. Locke uses this critique to launch his criticism of the work of

Thomas Hobbes. In the Second Treatis Locke states his theory of natural law and natural right, revealing a

rational purpose to government. Locke felt that the public welfare made government necessary and was the

test of good government, and he always defended the government as an institution.

In 1690 Locke was also able to publish An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which he had been

working on since 1671. In this book he establishes the principles of modern Empiricism, and attacks the

rationalist concept of innate ideas. Drawing on earlier writings by Chillingworth in which human

understanding is said to be limited, Locke sets out to determine these limits. He writes that we can be certain

that God exists, and be as certain of mortality as we are of mathematics, because we create moral and

political ideas. He states that we cannot, however, know the underlying realities of natural substances, as we

can only know their appearance. He imagined that the human mind begins as a "tabula rasa," and that we

learn by our experience.

The new government of England offered Locke the post of ambassador to Berlin or Vienna in recognition of

his part in the revolution, however Locke declined the honorable position. In 1689 he became commissioner

of appeals, and from 1696 to 1700 acted as commissioner of trade and plantations. In 1691 Locke

responded to financial difficulties in the government by publishingSome Considerations of the

Consequences of Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money, and in 1695Further Considerations 

on the topic of money. In 1693 he publishedSome Thoughts Concerning Education, and in 1695The

Reasonableness of Christianity. He was later inspired to write two Vindications of this last work in response

to some criticism. Locke invested a great deal of energy in theology in his later years, and among his work

published post mortem are commentaries on the Pauline epistles, aDiscourse on Miracles, a fragment of the

Fourth Letter for Toleration, and An Examination of Father Malebranche's Opinion of Seeing all things in

God, Remarks on Some of Mr. Norris's Books. After his death another chapter of An Essay Concerning

Human Understanding was published under the title The Conduct of the Understanding.

In his final years he lived in the country at Oates in Essex at the home of Sir Francis and Lady Masham(Damaris Cudworth). Locke had met Cudworth in 1682, a philosopher and daughter of the Cambridge

Platonist Ralph Cudworth. They had an intellectual and amorous relationship, which was cut short by

Locke's exile in Holland. Cudworth had married Sir Francis Masham in Locke's absence, yet she and Locke

remained close friends. Before his death, Locke saw four more editions of An Essay Concerning Human

Understanding and entertained controversy and critiques regarding the work, engaging in a series of letters

with Edward Stillingfleet, Bishop of Worcester, which have since been published. He died at Oates in Essex

on October 28, 1704.

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