...Page 1 of 7 What is Social Contract Theory? The concept of social contract theory is that in the beginning man lived in the state of nature. They had no government and there was no law to regulate them. There were hardships and oppression on the sections of the society. To overcome from these hardships they entered into two agreements which are:1. “Pactum Unionis”; and 2. “Pactum Subjectionis”. By the first pact of unionis, people sought protection of their lives and property. As, a result of it a society was formed where people undertook to respect each other and live in peace and harmony. By the second pact of subjectionis, people united together and pledged to obey an authority and surrendered the whole or part of their freedom and rights to an authority. The authority guaranteed everyone protection of life, property and to a certain extent liberty. Thus, they must agree to establish society by collectively and reciprocally renouncing the rights they had against one another in the State of Nature and they must imbue some one person or assembly of persons with the authority and power to enforce the initial contract. In other words, to ensure their escape from the State of Nature, they must both agree to live together under common laws, and create an enforcement mechanism for the social contract and the laws that constitute it. Thus, the authority or the government or the sovereign or the state came into being because of the two agreements. Analysis...
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...Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “The Social Contract” (1762) Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a leading intellectual during the French Enlightenment period, published his seminal work, “Du contract social ou principes du troit politique” in Holland in 1762. This is translated as “Of the social contract or principles of political right” and as the name suggests, is a political treatise outlining the principles that Rousseau felt would reform political society. The Age of Enlightenment existed in seventeenth century Europe, and was essentially a cultural movement of intellectuals who wanted to challenge set ideas or advance knowledge. Rousseau, Voltaire, and Diderot, among others, were known as ‘philosophes’ and their goal was to bring attention to societies’ ills. However, Rousseau has been found to be an unusual man with many contradictions in his writing. He was a man who was a champion of individual freedom yet his “social contract” proposed a collectivist state. This essay will discuss the author and the historical background behind the “social contract”. Next, the document will be analysed as to its purpose and central ideas. Rousseau was born in Geneva in 1712 but came to live most of his life in France where he became acquainted with other fellow intellectuals. After winning a major essay prize, Rousseau then contributed to the crowning glory of the enlightenment, Diderot’s “Encyclopedie”. Love said in 2008, ‘Rousseau was the eighteenth century’s leading apostle of democracy’...
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...Slide 1 - Ideology founded on the natural goodness of humans and the autonomy of the individual and favoring civil and political liberties, government by law with the consent of the governed, and protection from arbitrary authority. - advocates limited government, constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, individual liberties including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets Slide 2 Liberalism started as a major doctrine and intellectual endeavour in response to the religious wars gripping Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries, up until the cold war • Liberalism as a specifically named ideology begins in the late 18th century as a movement towards self-government and away from aristocracy. It included the ideas of self-determination, the primacy of the individual and the nation, as opposed to the family, the state, and religion, as being the fundamental units of law, politics and economy. • Liberalism first became a powerful force in the Age of Enlightenment, rejecting several foundational assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as nobility, established religion, absolute monarchy, and the Divine Right of Kings. • The first notable incarnation of liberal unrest came with the American Revolution, and liberalism fully flowered as a comprehensive movement against the old order during the French Revolution, which set the pace for the future development of human history. SLIDE 3 • The early liberal thinker John...
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...political theories at a time of political, religious and social upheaval in England. Both Locke and Hobbes shared the enlightenment view of the world. Their scientific understanding of cause and effect shaped their views not just of physical objects and how they interacted, but also of people and how they interacted in society. Both men wrote their own theories of Social Contract; they share several similarities, but differ in the responsibilities and rights of the State. According to Hobbes, prior to the Social Contract, man lived in the State of Nature. Man lived in a chaotic condition of selfishness and constant fear. Man has a desire for order and security, so man entered into a contract to...
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...The law of contract is the foundation upon which the superstructure of modern business is built. It is common knowledge that in business transactions quite often promises are made at one time and the performance follows later. Explaining the object of the law Sir William Anson observes:”the law of contract is intended to ensure that what a man has been promised to him shall be performed” DEFINITIONS • A contract is an agreement made between two or more parties which the law will enforce • Pollock: “Every agreement and promise enforceable at law is a contract.” • Salmond: “A contract is an agreement creating and defining obligations between the parties.” AGREEMENT • An agreement is defined as “every promise and every set of promises, forming consideration for each other.” • A proposal when accepted becomes a promise. Agreement = Offer + Acceptance INDIAN CONTRACT ACT 1872 The law of contract in India is contained in the Indian contract act, 1872. According to section 2(h) of Indian contract act: an agreement enforceable by law is a contract” ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A VALID CONTRACT 1. OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE: When one person signifies to another his willingness to do or abstain from doing anything with a view to obtaining the assent of that other to such act or abstinence he is said to make a proposal. The first step towards creating a contract is that one person shall signify or make a proposal...
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...So this is a life essentially lived in fear. And so for Hobbes then, a social contract would be formed by people to create a political society, reflecting a desire to ensure they can get the goods they need for a decent life and also out of fear of their death. The basis of this social contract, he argued, was natural law which is arrived at by using our reason. And this forbids man to do anything destructive to his own life. The source of this natural law is the natural right of each man to do whatever he considers necessary to preserve his own life. Each man also has liberty, in other words, the freedom to do whatever he would choose to do. And deriving from all this, in order for men to maximise self preservation, there is a general rule of reason. In Hobbes' words, this rule is to seek peace and follow it by all means we can to defend ourselves. And following this is a second law. When others are willing, a man shouldn't limit his liberty against other man, again, in his words, as he would allow other men against himself in order to promote peace and self preservation. But Hobbes accepted these natural laws were not going to be effective in the state of...
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...Assignment ON Comparison and Contrast Between Two Political Thinkers: Thomas Hobbes and John Locke Abstract The Social Contract theory which dominated the European political thought in the eighteen century has played a very important part in the development of the modern political theory and practice. Being the most important of all the speculative theories, it came into being as a result of reaction against the theory of the Divine Origin. This theory was the first to denounce the influence of the church in the state affairs, provided an explanation for the origin of the state and shows the relationship between those who governs and those who are governed. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are the chief exponents of the Contract Theory. Both of them have established their thesis from the beginning of human habitation, though their ideas and opinions are quite distinct. Hobbes in his theory has only described one contract where Locke has described two. Thomas Hobbes’ “Leviathan” and John Locke’s “Two Treaties on Civil Government” these books are considered as bibles in the evolution of modern states system. Though there are criticisms and debates regarding the social contract theory, but the modern political theories today have evolved from these contract theories which has no doubt. The aim of this assignment is to compare and contrast between Thomas Hobbes and John Locke and explore their contribution in the development of international relations according to the analysis...
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...criminologist and more recently the study of deterrence of specific crimes and using imprisonment times to deter crimes as well. The deterrence theory main idea is that punishment for crimes can be used as a threat to deter people from offending. There’s two parts of the deterrence theory, specific and general deterrence. Specific deterrence is focused fully on the individual; it instils fear in the specific individual being punished. This type of deterrence refrain the individual from future violation of the law. General deterrence is the Criminal Justice system making examples of specific criminals. The criminal isn’t the main focus but the criminal act and its punishment is received in a public view in order to deter other individuals from deviance in future. Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher, best known for his work on political philosophy. Hobbes published Leviathan in 1651, which is the foundation of later Western political philosophy. In Leviathan, Hobbes describes men as neither good nor bad, he assumed that men are creatures of their own desire who want certain things and who fight when their desires are in conflict. Hobbes views that people generally pursue their self-interests, such as material gain, family and individual safety, and social reputation and these people will make foes without caring if they harm other in the process. Cause these people are so determined to accomplish their self-interests, the results is often conflict and opposition without a...
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...The theory of social agreement paper 544 2/22/2016 Melba V. Pearson The theory of social agreement paper In my paper, I will discuss John Locke social contract theory, which it will assist on how his principles are even within the criminal justice system. In private security, issues were currently happening. In this paper as well will discuss in-depth information debate if John Locke’s central beliefs also morals relate to the criminal justice also private security location. A summary will do to help identify main dissimilarities of the social contract theories, also, recognize main any principles related to Locke’s social contract theory. Then label how these how the codes infused in the bill of right within the United States. Then recognize how these principles saw with the criminal justice also security organizations of a present, as well finally describe independence concerning personal rights also proper principles also the obligation. Variations of the social contract theories In the social contract theory, there were three important theorists, which portrayed an essential part in developing the idea for it. The whole idea of the theory was to assist how people would exist; within society that controlled by the government also, it laws. All of these theorists have a various form of concepts of the state of nature one, of the theorist's name Thomas Hobbies. He believed that people were egotistical. They were frightened Hobbies felt...
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...what they are, instead of either accepting or rejecting the entirety of the belief set as objectively true or false. Even those theories that seem to be completely refuted serve an important purpose by the arguments used therein. A perfect example of this lies in Social Contract Theory, as presented by John Rawls and others. Social contract theory presents the belief that morality is an agreement made amongst humanity. Each of us has, by being part of society, “signed” this unwritten contract that compels us to behave in a certain way. Those who violate the contract are shunned by society in some way, while those who abide by it gain the benefits of being an accepted member. This is not to imply that morality is entirely relative; moral codes are changed only when there is some significant event that actually affects society itself in some way. Instead, Rawls presents the idea that the code we agreed to abide by should be created by an impartial observer operating from what he terms the Original Position. This perspective is that of a person who has no perception of their own place in society. They have no idea of their gender, economic status, ethnicity, or any of the countless other things that differentiate people from one another. A person operating under these assumptions would, by necessity, create a moral code that was unbiased, since they would never know on which side of a particular bias they might actually be. The exact nature of such a code is debatable, but it could...
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...In Book II of the Plato’s Republic, Glaucon and Adeimantus challenge Socrates’ claim that justice belongs in the class of goods which are valued for their own sake as well as for the sake of what comes from them (Rep. 357 b- 358 a). Unconvinced by Socrates’ refutation of Thrasymachus, Glaucon renews Thrasymachus’ argument that the life of the unjust person is better than that of the just person. As part of his case, Glaucon states what he claims most people consider the nature of justice to be and what its origins are. He proceeds to present a version of the social contract theory: They say that to do injustice is naturally good and to suffer injustice bad, but that the badness of suffering it so far exceeds the goodness of doing it that those who have done and suffered injustice and tasted both, but who lack the power to do it and avoid suffering it, decide that it is profitable to come to an agreement with each other neither to do injustice nor to suffer it. As a result, they begin to make laws and covenants, and what the law commands they call lawful and just. This, they say, is the origin and essence of justice. It is intermediate between the best and the worst. The best is to do injustice without paying the penalty; the worst is to suffer it without being able to take revenge. Justice is a mean between these two extremes. People value it not because it is a good but because they are too weak to do injustice with impunity. Someone who has the power to do this...
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...Section X, The Right To Obligation of Contract. We have compiled this additional information regarding 'contracts' for the benefit of those who are presently involved in contracts of one kind or another, or contemplate such. The Law of Contract has existed from the beginning, even Adam had a verbal contract with God, 'watch over the Garden of Eden'. The Law of Contract has existed since the beginning of organized society, and forms one of the oldest branches of law relating to transactions of all kinds. Just as the safety of persons and property depends upon Rules of civil and criminal law, security and stability of the business world depends upon the Law of Contracts. With a philosophy of personal liberty in the United States, the Law of Contract becomes one of the main supports of the structure of the private enterprise system. The right to secure, acquire, and dispose of property is protected by the Law of Contract. The Law of Contract in modern terms could be defined as 'an agreement containing a promise enforceable in law'. The four component parts of a contract are: 1) Agreement, offer and acceptance, 2) Mutuality and consideration, 3) Competent parties, and; 4) A legal objective. In a contract, if no time is specified for the performance of an act, a reasonable time is allowed. The reasonable time may be longer than one of the parties contemplate, but under the conditions which do not specify time, it is still a viable contract. If time to perform is really not...
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...Benjamin Mrs. Sauter History/ Block F 12/7/14 A Comparison of Social Contracts A social contract is a distinctive agreement among the members of a society to cooperate with one another to gain social benefits. There have been many social philosophers throughout history who have written about their opinion on how society should function within a successful government. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English philosopher who believed that the human race was corrupted from birth and that they were cruel, greedy and selfish. He also believed that people will fight, steal, and torment each other. He further believes that people must be ruled by an absolute monarchy and the surrounding governments must grant all power to the king. Another English philosopher,...
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... Thomas Hobbes believed in a form of government in which people were controlled by an absolute ruler (Leviathan). For Hobbes, he believed that all human beings were naturally selfish and cruel; he believed that the State of Nature is short, poor and disorderly (Lecture). People in the State of Nature pursue their self-interests (material gain and personal safety), and this will lead to human beings to make enemies and create conflict (Lecture). Therefore, without government there will be no control over humans and life would be disorganised. In his eyes, a ruler is necessary for a state to thrive and flourish, without a leader, society would be chaotic (Leviathan). In this type of government, people would need to hand over their social contracts and their rights to a ruler. Hobbes believes people are rational, therefore people would realize that their natural habits would lead them to conflict and a “State of War” (Leviathan). When people use reason, people will figure out that if they gave up their own self-interests, other people will to, this is the reason why citizens give up their power to a...
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...In their various writings, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx both agree on the many sources of inequality in society, citing the diving nature of things like wealth, property, and hierarchical government. However, they have different solutions when speaking about how to solve these issues of inequality and freedom. Marx seeks a sort of all encompassing and immediate change that is broadly appealing, but does not often work. Rousseau, on the other hand, presents broad changes in governance that can be applied in the real world scenarios to do good and cause positive differences in people’s quality of life while also improving society as a whole. When Rousseau says, “man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains” in The Social Contract,...
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