Political Philosophy: Sovereign Power and Social Contract

The Sovereign's Power and the Social Contract

• Hobbes believed that the sovereign has absolute power to enforce the contract against those wanting to break it, and that this is necessary to prevent chaos and disorder.
• Hobbes' ideas were influenced by his experience of the civil war and the cruelty and disorder that came with the fall of the government.

Commonwealth of Oceana and Republican Government

• James Harrington proposed an ideal secular state in his work "Commonwealth of Oceana".
• Harrington was influenced by Machiavelli and wanted a republican government in a capitalist society as the most stable political system.
• He advocated for a written constitution, secret ballots, and a bicameral government, and believed in the idea of "Empire of laws, not of men".

John Locke and Natural Law

• John Locke's "Two Treatises of Civil Government" was influenced by Hooker's ideas.
• Locke believed that natural law gives an inner sense of our rights, and that there are natural laws recognized by all reasoning beings.
• He argued that individuals have inalienable rights to life, freedom, and private property, and that government needs consent to be legitimate.

Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances

• Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, admired Locke and the English constitution, and wrote "The Spirit of Laws".
• Montesquieu believed that the spheres of government are the executive, legislative, and judicial, and that they should be separated to guarantee the liberties of the subject.
• He argued that an aristocratic government would balance these powers, and that an absolute monarchy or government by the common people couldn't do this.

Conservatism and Liberalism

• Conservatism emerged as a response to "classical liberalism" and incorporated Locke's core ideas, especially natural rights and the right to property.
• Modern Conservatism began in Britain and France and was qualified as liberal individualism, with a bottom-up legitimacy (consent of the people).
• Conservatives favored constitutional government, checks and balances, and the protection of individuals from potential oppressors.

Sir William Blackstone and Friedrich von Hayek

• Sir William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England" argued that the English constitution and common law are solutions to the problems of social conflict and the need for orderly government.
• Friedrich von Hayek amplified Blackstone's ideas, focusing on the concrete inheritance of people and institutions, and bringing historical and empirical content to the theory of natural law.

The Tory Attitude and the Separation of Liberals and Conservatives

• The term "Tory" was invented to describe traditionalist and loyalist sentiments that animated the royalist faction in the government.
• The Tory attitude values eccentricity and independence as obedience, and believes that freedom is not an escape from obligation but a call to obey them.
• Liberals and conservatives began to divide between them the new territory of post-religious politics, with liberals believing that political order comes from individual liberty, and conservatives believing that liberty comes from political order.

American and French Revolutions

• The American Revolution was influenced by conservative ways of thinking, aiming to keep old rights that the British took.
• Thomas Jefferson was a key figure in the American Revolution, and his ideas were influenced by conservative thinkers like Blackstone.
• The French Revolution, on the other hand, was characterized by romantic individualism and a desire to completely dismantle the old order and create a new one.

Adam Smith and the Theory of Moral Sentiments

• Adam Smith's "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" argued that human communities are founded on a "mutual sympathy of sentiments", and that we seek approval from others.
• He developed the Theory of the Impartial Spectator, which suggests that we evaluate actions and decisions by imagining how a fair or unbiased observer would view them.
• Smith believed that a society of free individuals is founded in sympathetic feelings, not in reason, and that institutions exist to ensure responsibilities are not evaded or abused.

Edmund Burke and the Role of Tradition

• Edmund Burke argued that prejudice has a motive to give action to reason, and that traditions are essential in shaping the responsible citizen.
• He believed that institutions exist to ensure responsibilities are not evaded or abused, and that maybe we cannot reason, so traditions are essential.
• Burke saw tradition as a form of knowledge of knowing what to do to do something successfully, and that success is measured in the harmony of result in human needs and interests.