Ancient Social Contract Theory and Hobbes

Ancient Social Contract Theory

• Glaucon proposed justice stems from mutual agreements between individuals to avoid suffering injustice and embrace a shared set of rules.
• This agreement motivates individuals to follow moral rules as it offers greater benefits than living without them.
• Glaucon argued for absolute authority as he lived in a time of chaos and conflict between people and rulers.

Thomas Hobbes

• Thomas Hobbes was a British political philosopher known for his book "Leviathan" (1651).
• He lived from 1588 to 1679.
• He believed in psychological egoism - the idea that all human actions are driven by self-interest.
• Hobbes was a consequentialist, meaning he believed the morality of an action is judged by its consequences.

State of Nature

• In Hobbes's view, humans are naturally equal in desires and abilities.
• Humans are inherently egoistic and competitive, driven by a desire for limited resources.
• He believed humans are prideful, sensitive to insults, and have limited benevolence.
• With no government or rules, humans would live in a constant state of war, with no morality, justice, industry, or social structures.
• This state of nature is characterized by fear, danger, and a constant threat of violent death.
• Hobbes famously described this state as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Rights in the State Nature

• In the state of nature, individuals have a "Right of Nature," meaning they have the right to do anything necessary to preserve their own lives.
• This is governed by the "Law of Nature," which dictates people should act to ensure their preservation and avoid actions that threaten it.

Fundamental Rules of Reason

• The first law of nature is to seek and maintain peace, resorting to war only when peace cannot be obtained.
• The second law of nature emphasizes treating others as you would wish to be treated, encouraging mutual agreements and sacrifices for shared benefit.

Hobbesian Social Contract Theory

• For Hobbes, an act is considered right, wrong, obligatory, or permissible only if it aligns with the moral code outlined by the sovereign.
• The social contract is an agreement by individuals to surrender certain rights in exchange for the safety and security provided by a strong sovereign.

Leviathan

• Hobbes argued that agreements without enforcement (a sword) are meaningless, highlighting the need for a strong sovereign to maintain social order.
• The sovereign's role is to provide collective defense and ensure personal security in exchange for complete obedience from citizens.
• They enforce laws to prevent a return to the state of nature.
• The sovereign needs absolute power to effectively maintain order.

Reasons for Absolute Power

• Hobbes believed any government is preferable to civil war, which would represent a return to the state of nature.
• He argued that governments without absolute power are prone to dissolving into civil war, creating a need for an unyielding authority.
• Rational individuals, to avoid societal collapse, should submit themselves to an absolute political authority (a leviathan, or sovereign).

The Sovereign's Role

• The sovereign's primary function is to remove society from the state of nature by enforcing the social contract.
• This contract is implicit in the act of living within a society, as individuals are born into it and benefit from its structure.
• Even promises made under threat of violence are considered binding.

Concerns with Hobbes' Theory

• Some question the accuracy of Hobbes' depiction of the state of nature, wondering if it was truly as harsh as he described.
• A significant concern is the concentration of absolute power in the hands of a sovereign, raising questions about individual rights and the potential for abuse.
• Hobbes' theory relies on the idea of psychological egoism, which is questioned by those who believe genuine altruism and other motivations influence human behavior.
• The is-ought fallacy involves drawing a normative conclusion (what we ought to do) from a descriptive claim (what is). Hobbes' theory is criticized for potentially falling into this fallacy, lacking a robust justification for his claims.

Further Questions

• While Hobbes argues that individuals have the natural right to self-defense, the conditions under which they can legitimately revolt remain unclear.
• The theory doesn't adequately address the needs and rights of those who are unable to fully participate in the social contract.
• It struggles to explain how to navigate moral conflict when acting in one's interest might require violating existing social norms.
• The difficulty in definitively determining what is in one's best interest further complicates the application of Hobbes's ideas, which focuses on self-preservation as a primary motivation.