Philosophy

Philosophy Study Guide

©2018 of 126 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. 10.6 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 and enlightened perspective, but Hobbes sees this differently. He believes that because we all want the same things, and we all have roughly equal abilities and pose equal threats to one another, the result is a free for all, a war of all against all. Hobbes believed even when we are not actually engaged in a conflict we are worried about being engaged in conflict. This preoccupation with our personal safety precludes the possibility of social cooperation and all of the constructive creations that grow out of such cooperation. It is every person for him-or-herself and this results in a very primitive style of living. Hobbes believed and acknowledged that we may never have actually existed in such a state of nature, but this doesn’t matter. We see the reality of people’s competitive and destructive natures in the way we behave in current society. These competitive and destructive impulses are simply a part of human nature, wired into our brains since birth. It is only when humans come together to make peace with one another, create laws, and establish a central authority to enforce the laws that the moral concepts of justice and injustice come into existence. Weary from this ongoing conflict, threat, and competition the rational part of nature enables us to understand that we need to create a political structure that will enable us to live cooperatively and harmoniously with one another and so we enter into a social Achieve Page 111