The Political
Philosophers
Philosophy
Dr. Mark King
Political Philosophy
 Study
of Politics, Liberty, justice, property,
rights, laws
 That which makes governments legitimate
 Similar to political ideology: sub-discipline
of political science
 Key Enlightenment figures:
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Thomas Hobbes , John Locke, David Hume,
Emmanuel Kant, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Thomas Hobbes: 1588-1679
Intro
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Key work Leviathan:
established modern idea of
social contract theory
Argued that natural rights
could only be protected by
an absolute monarch due
to savage State of Nature
(?)
Also developed idea of
natural rights of individual
Wrote during English Civil
War
Social Contract Theory
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Idea that individuals give consent to giving up
certain freedoms and submit to authority of
the ruler(s), state, etc, in exchange for
protection of their remaining rights
The relationship between natural and legal
rights is central to social contract theory
With Hobbes, Political Obligation subsumed to
Religious Obligation (?)
Idea that political authority is derived from
religious authority: Divine Monarchy
John Locke: 1632-1704
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Founder of Modern
Empiricism
Critiqued and
expanded Hobbes’
idea of the social
contract:
rejected Hobbes
idea that individual’s
rights could only be
guaranteed by the
Sovereign
Locke cont
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Difference with Hobbes centered on right of
citizens to revolt against their king if rights (to
liberty) not honored and protected
*For Locke, the Natural State (State of Nature)
of Man is perfect and complete liberty to live
one’s life as one sees fit, free from
interference from others
Persons assumed to be equal
Does not mean individuals are free to do
whatever they want
Law and State of Nature
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The basis of all morality grounded in this, and
given to us by God
Law of Nature commands us to do no harm to
others with regards to their “life, liberty, or
possessions”
We cannot take away from a person what is
rightfully his
Locke: State of Nature is a state of Liberty
Hobbes: State of Nature is naturally a state of
War
Nature of Society?
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Seen in many ways as an escape from State of
Nature
Society not made up of individuals but of families
(conjugal societies)
Wider society based on a voluntary agreement to
raise children (moral, not political agreements)
Political Society comes when individual men
(representing their families), come together and
agree to give up executive power to punish those
who transgress the Law of Nature
Then become subject to will of the majority
What if majority is wrong, corrupt?
Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy
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Social Contract Theory
Views that persons' moral and/or political obligations
are dependent upon a contract or agreement to
form the society in which they live.
Socrates uses something quite like a social contract
argument to explain to Crito why he must remain in
prison and accept the death penalty.
Theory is rightly associated with modern moral and
political
Is one of the most dominant theories within moral
and political theory throughout the history of the
modern West.
Kantian version of social contract theory?
Recent Critiques of Classic
Social Contract Theory
 Feminist
and race-conscious philosophers
have offered new criticisms
 Have argued the “social contract” is at
least an incomplete picture of our moral
and political lives
 In fact, it may camouflage ways that the
powerful justify their subjugations of
classes of persons.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
A Theory of Justice
A
variation of Kant’s theory the social
contract
 Justice as Fairness: Rawls calls for a
principled reconciliation of liberty and
equality
 Principles of Justice are called upon to
guide each party involved
 Assumes all parties face moderate
scarcity
First Essays
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Has the advancement of the Sciences and arts
improved morals?
Short answer: the advancement of civilization has
corrupted the natural goodness of human beings
Progress inevitably leads to moral degeneration
Very controversial: went against a basic
assumption of the Enlightenment that the best
hope for humanity is progress, which occurs as
societies throws off the past dominated by
superstition and myth (i.e.: religion)