GOVT 1001 - Topic #2

Theories of The State: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau

Thomas Hobbes lived between _______

1588 - 1679

Thomas Hobbes most famous work _______

The Leviathan **(1651)**

Hobbes argues that all people are

naturally equal in mind and body.

Hobbes states “people are naturally equal in mind and body.” This basic equality is the principal source of _______

trouble and misery.

Hobbes says “People, in general, have equal faculties and they _______

also cherish similar hopes and desires.”

Hobbes states “If two people cherish the same thing which they both cannot have, they will________

become enemies and seek to destroy each other.”

Hobbe’s view of the state of nature was _______

philosophical and not historical.

According to Hobbes “One had to envisage what

life would be like in the state of nature.”

Hobbes says “In the state of nature, there _______

is no government and no law enforcement.”

Hobbes - “In the state of nature, people are _______

in a condition of war - (“every man against every man.”)

Hobbes in “The State of Nature” in such a condition where “every man against every man.” life is ______

"solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."

Hobbes' pessimism about mankind in the state of nature is overcome by his belief that ______

the fear of death will lead mankind out of the state of nature and into the civil state.

Hobbes the fear of death is the passion that ______

inclines man to peace.

Hobbes states The moderation created by the fear of death will not overcome the ______

innate desire of people for power and glory, even in the civil state.

The Leviathan states that “there must be a restraining power strong enough to keep mankind to _______

its promise to maintain the peace in the civil state.”

Quote from Leviathan _______

"Covenants without the sword, are but words, and of no strength to secure a man at all."

The Leviathan speaks to - “If people were peaceable enough to observe covenants without a superior authority for their enforcement, ______

there would be no need for government in the first place , because there would be peace without compulsion.

The social contract of Hobbes is made between ______

subjects and subjects, not between subjects and sovereign.

The Leviathan says - “All power is transferred from ______

subjects to Hobbes' sovereign authority”

In Hobbes Social Contract - ”Government is set up by a covenant that ______

transfers all power and authority to be sovereign.”

Hobbes assigns to the State the task of _______

maintaining order and security for the benefit of the citizens.

Hobbes' sovereign is _______

a supreme administrator and lawgiver.

John Locke lived between _______

1632 - 1704

John Locke wrote _______

Two Treatises of Government **(1689)**

What year did John Locke “Two Treatises of Government” come out?

**1689**

In Locke's "Two Treatises of Government" (1689), _______

he starts out with the concept of the state of nature.

John Locke states - ”Before government, people in their natural state were free and equal, because ______

God did not give anyone superiority over anyone else.”

Locke insinuates “People are free in ______

not being subject to another.”

Locke says “People are not born into _______

submission, except unto God.”

Locke - “Life in the state of nature was governed by _______

natural laws.”

Locke - “People are given the gift of _______

reason by God at birth.”

Locke - “People's possession of reason enables them _______

to understand natural laws.”

Locke - “Freedom is due to rationality and completely unreasonable behaviour is _______

not free, but is non-human.”

Locke “People are free in the state of nature, because _______

of natural laws.”

Locke says in the transition to the Civil State- “The law of nature, through the instrument of

reason, defines what is right and wrong.”

Locke in Transition to the Civil State says - “However, it has three main disadvantages which impel mankind to replace it:

(a) It is unwritten and not sufficiently clear and could be ignored.

(b) The absence of impartial judges could lead to everyone being a judge in their own cases.

(c) The injured party is not always strong enough to execute the just sentence of the law.

John Locke says in the Civil State - “The inconveniences of the state of nature place the_______

natural rights of mankind in a vulnerable position.”

Locke says in the Civil State - “The need for government arises to provide those things which nature lacks, _______

in order to protect those things which nature lacks, in order to protect those things which nature gives.”

‘Locke says - “The need for government is not what makes it legitimate but rather _______

the mark of a civil society is the consent with which each individual resigns their own right to judge and execute the laws of nature and gives it to a political authority-the State.”

Locke states that - “The social contract that people make with each other to form a civil society is born of both _______

fear of injustice and the need to preserve the existence of morality in the affairs of mankind.”

Locke's social contract is meant to remove obstacles to the realization of the _______

natural sociability of mankind and mutual respect for each other's rights.

Locke's social contract establishes a servant, rather than

a master to do this-the State.

Locke in “The Social Contract” - The creation of government is, therefore, _______

a trust, which benefits the community and not the rulers.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau lived between _______

1712 - 1778

Jean-Jacques Rousseau most famous work _______

The Social Contract (1762)

The main concern of this work “The Social Contract (1762)” was _______

the issue of "political obligation".

At the beginning of this work “The Social Contract (1762)”, he states that: __________

"Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains."

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Like his predecessors, he uses the concept of _______

the state of nature and the social contract that puts an end to it.

Rousseau's conception of man's life in the state of nature is _______

not as gloomy as Hobbes or as optimistic as Locke.

Rousseau says - “Each person pursues their self-interest in the state of nature until _______

they discover that they cannot stop the threats and hindrances of others.”

Rousseau states - “People are guided by instinct only in the state of nature, while_______

enjoying natural liberty which is enslavement to uncontrolled appetites.”

Rousseau in the “Transition to the Civil State says - “People have a desire to live in community and they surrender, not to a sovereign ruler, but rather ________

give themselves to the community and, therefore, they give themselves to nobody in particular.”

Rousseau states - “The total surrender of the individual to the sovereign community is

alien to Locke and may resemble Hobbes' view.”

The difference between Hobbes and Rousseau is the difference between _______

the mechanical creation of the Hobbesian state based on a purpose for people, and the organic creation of Rousseau's state, based on people wanting to live in community.

Rousseau says “In the civil state, people are inspired by _______

justice and morality.”

Rousseau in the Civil State - “People lose natural liberty and an unlimited right to everything they want, but they _______

gain civil liberty and property rights for everything they possess.

"Obedience to a law which we prescribe to ourselves is liberty."

Rousseau in “The Social Contract” says - “The purpose of the social contract is to combine _______

security, which comes from collective association, with liberty, which the individual had before the making of the contract.”

Rousseau - “The social contract consists of "the total alienation of

each associate, together with all his rights, to the whole community."

Rousseau sees this body of persons being

"Possessed of a will".

Rousseau sees this body of persons being "Possessed of a will” he calls this.

"General Will"

Rousseau says this "General Will" is:

(a) Always aims at the general good; and,

(b) Comes from all and applies to all.

Rousseau - The General Will "tends always to the preservation and welfare of every part, and is the _______

source of laws, constitutes for all members of the state, in their relation to one another and to it, the rule of what is just and unjust."

Rousseau - Obedience to the General Will is thus the _______

expression of the moral freedom of the individual and if there is refusal, persons may be compelled to obey.”

"This means nothing less than he will be forced to be free."