Introduction to Philosophy

Achieve Test Prep: Philosophy

protection in a just society to ensure that their basic needs were taken care of. Aristotle believed that humans are inherently political social animals who achieve their individual potential only through social interaction. For him, the state is prior to the individual meaning that the interests of the community take precedence over the interest of the individual citizens.

Justice Depends on a Social Contract Plato and Aristotle both envisioned an ideal society as one based on the assumption that justice was the natural result of each citizen performing his or her natural function, no matter what that person’s position in the social hierarchy. Both Plato and Aristotle grounded their social and political visions in their metaphysical beliefs: Plato’s quest for rational enlightenment and wisdom and Aristotle’s belief in the purposeful nature of every dimension of the universe. The Middle Ages in Europe was dominated by the influence of religion. The ruling monarchs often sought to establish their authority by claiming they ruled by divine right supported by the full force of God’s will. Thus the state and the rulers came to be seen as an integral part of God’s kingdom on earth. The seventeenth-century brought about revolutionary thinking by philosophers Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and John Rawls who developed views regarding the origins of the state and the nature of social justice that represented a radical departure from the political theories up until this time. All three of these philosophers agreed on the following core political beliefs: all members of society are intrinsically equal; individuals willingly enter into a social contract with one another to promote a better quality of life for themselves; justice and other laws only comes into existence with the formation of the social contract, justice is viewed as pursuing the public interest, enforced by the authority of the ruling members of the community. Hobbes: We Need a Social Contract to Coexist Thomas Hobbes contends that humans begin the original in the state of nature unconstrained by laws or social agreements. Hobbes believed that human are by nature selfish, destructive, and unprincipled, living in a state of nature is very unpleasant resembling a war of all against all and the consequence is that our lives in the state of nature are nasty, short, and brutish. Hobbes believed that because humans are capable of reason, they recognize that the only way to improve the quality of their lives is to enter into a cooperative partnership with their competitors, a social contact in which they will agree to surrender some of their autonomy to create a safe and productive environment in which to live. This cooperative peace is enforced by laws and a justice system that the individual members have endorsed and once this central political authority has been established, its actions should not be questioned. Hobbes’s work titled Leviathan refers to a mystical sea creature that symbolized evil. He uses this image to symbolize his belief in the need for strong, authoritative central government that has the power to maintain control and order in the face of political turmoil. Hobbes uses the tools of reason and common sense to conclude that in general terms, humans are more similar than different, more equal than unequal- physically and mentally. For most people, equality among people is viewed as a positive

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