Thomas Jefferson Social Contract Theory

The “Social Contract” was a theory written in the 17th and 18th century. This theory argued four important main points. These main points said that the state existed to serve the will of the people, that people were the only source of government power, that the people were free to withhold power of the government, but also had the ability to give power to the government, and finally it stated that the ideas in this document limited government, individual rights, and popular sovereignty. James Harrington, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke wrote this document.

Hobbes held a rather pessimistic view of human nature, writing in Leviathan that, in the state of nature, the lives of all humans would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” He believed that, in the state of nature (ie without a without a central power), every man is in constant war with every other man. This constant battle arises from the fact that no one can trust anyone else not to harm or steal from them. You may tell me that you won’t steal my horse, but there’s nothing stopping you from murdering me in my sleep and making off with all of my possessions. Thus, I must expect an attack – to prevent it, it would be wise for me to act first, killing you before you kill me. We see how the natural state of war arises.

Our society is built off of the concept of a social contract by which the individuals who comprise the society give up certain freedoms in exchange for protection by the government. The government then has a duty to properly balance the conflicting freedoms of its various constituents and ensure that they can enjoy the maximum amount of freedom without interference from the government or from other individuals. Along with the social contract comes the concept of rule of law, an essential tenet of any structured society, whether free or not. In a perfect society, all laws would be constructed off of the social contract, and thus there would be no legitimate reason to oppose them as they would promote maximal freedom and justice. However,

There are many historical thinkers and philosophers that had a part in the creation of the United States government. The Founders were inspired by and mainly looked to the intellectual influences of John Locke and James Harrington. By combining Locke’s ideas on social contract and natural rights with Harrington’s vision of the ideal state, the Founders were able to frame a coherent system of government within the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Thomas Hobbes wrote during the time of the English Civil War and these events were heavily reflected within his writing. This time demonstrated a tremendous amount of political instability within the state and the violent war caused tension and unrest amongst the citizens. Hobbes advocates for the need for an all-powerful sovereign in order to ensure peace and security within society. Hobbes argues that humans were naturally drawn into a state of war and the only way to escape this conflict was if humans entered into a social contract in which they traded their individual liberties in exchange for protection from a higher political power of authority. For Hobbes sovereignty is best achieved when humans, “owe under the immortal God, [their] peace and defence” (Hobbes, 332). According to Hobbes when humans sacrifice their personal liberty they are avoiding the fear of violent death and instead would be able to live a peaceful life. Hobbes states that in the natural state of war humans seek to destroy one another, “ if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies; and in the way to their end… endeavour to destroy, or subdue one another” (319). It is essential to enter into a social contract because without a constant source of political authority in their life, human life would result in chaos. In an attempt to avoid the violent wars that result in the state of nature and in order to escape violent death that he

One objection to Hobbes’ theory of freedom in the state of nature is the idea of bringing others into your power, reasoning that we are not made for one another’s uses and may not, as Locke states, “impair the life, or what tends to the preservation of the life, the liberty, health, limb, or goods of another” (sec. 6). Locke writes that all men have no more power or jurisdiction than the next; that all men are “promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature, and the use of the same faculties” (sec. 4). Even with regards to our mental capabilities we are given an even greater equality. While some men receive formal educations and are educated in science, arts or math, all men gain prudence.

Understanding Social Contract Social contract is a convention between humans that aims to discard the state of nature. Under this state of nature, individuals coexist peacefully without the interference by the government and its written rules and regulations. Principles of justice based on individual ability to reason efficiently guide the people’s way of life. These principles include the right to liberty and the right to live. They apply to all individuals regardless of race or ethnicity. Through reasoning, most individuals seek to follow these principles; nonetheless, the lack of written regulations results to challenges especially in the manner at which individuals solve the arising interpersonal conflicts (Maloy, 2009). In times of such conflicts, the state of nature becomes a social contract as individuals seek assistance from the state. To solve these conflicts, the state sets up rules and enforces them prompting the people to pay the state for its role in conflict resolution. In this process, the government sets up legislatures, law enforcement units, and non-partisan judicial systems to protect the right of every individual. This theory explains the processes of forming states and governments. Particularly, this theory focuses on the voluntary provision of information to the government by the people. This is because the government serves the people and it requires accurate information from the people in the process of serving

Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper in which you analyze the social contract theory of John Locke and how the values identified are consistent with the criminal justice system and private security settings. Do these values and principles apply to both venues?

Both Hobbes and Locke observe the overwhelming presence of fear in the state of nature. Even though a person has the right to self-defense and the punishment of evildoers, that does not eliminate the constant fear of being attacked in the state of nature. This is a reason why, according to both philosophers, people are willing to be governed (Hobbes, 1968: 188; Locke, 1980: 16). However, in Hobbes’ form of government, that fear is not eliminated, only changed. Instead of fearing death or attack, now the people fear the sovereign itself (Hobbes, 1968: 198). In fact, the entire power of the sovereign comes directly from the fear it instills in those it governs. In exchange for this perpetual fear, the governed can live in peace, so long as they follow the sovereign’s rules and do not speak out against him (377).

To Hobbes, a State of Nature, in which there is an absence of the formation of a state, is synonymous to that of a State of War, and that life for men without a Common Power to keep them all in awe is nasty, brutish, and short. Hobbes claims that because the condition of man is a condition of war of all against all, in a state of nature men have the right to everything, even one another’s body, therefore there can be no security. Hobbes line of reasoning is that man needs a Common Power to rightfully give them the security that they would not otherwise have - and this security is to protect us from each other. The type of government that is needed to protect a society from the depraved condition of man is one that can be

In the past, there was the creation of government that was bound to social contract to protect the rights of the people. There have been many times where the government has violated its contract and the people are able to start a revolution to take control of the government. There are 4 different purposes of the government and one key element of government is maintaining social order. I believe this is the most important purpose because social order is the balance between the people, without balance in the hierarchy of the people the country or the nation could be separated and thrown into chaos. The social contract between the government and the people is in place because people do not know how to cope and avoid conflict with the people around

After Hobbes then Locke, was Rousseau. His social contract theory is based off of a topic discussed in class. Rousseau was a firm believer that when people had all of their needs supplied by nature there were no issues, but when populations began increasing and people had to find other ways to satisfy their needs, conflicts began arising. In simple terms Rousseau based his version of the social contract theory from the idea that nature nourishes and society corrupts. It makes sense that Rousseau would have had that idea and philosophy because he was alive during the romantic era for poetry, and the idea that Nature corrupts while society nourishes was very popular. On the other hand, arguably the best version of the social contract theory was written in-between these two versions. It was written by John Locke. He bases his philosophies on the natural rights of all humans. He believes every society should be focused on enforcing and allowing the natural rights to its citizens. If the government is violating our natural rights, then John Locke’s social contract theory says the citizens ought to overthrow the government. Our constitution is mostly based off of the Social contract theory by John Locke. One example would be that the second

In the 17th and 18th centuries, during the Enlightenment, people began to query established views concerning the government, religion, economics and science. Many philosophers and historians began to develop all sorts of new theories that challenged current stances on said topics. In Europe, the moral and political aspects of their established foundation of power was challenged by the social contract theory. According to, “Social contract theory, nearly as old as philosophy itself, is the view that persons’ moral and/or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live” (***). There are three intellectuals that are given credit for forming the social contract theory: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. They all had the same fundamental idea but each construed it uniquely.

Long before there were ever organized Government, there was state of nature. Which was a concept of what the lives of people might have been like before societies came into existence. With Hobbes, argued that all humans are by nature equal in faculties of body and mind. From this equality and other causes in human nature, everyone is naturally willing

In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes lays out the hypothetical principal of the state of nature, where human it-self is artificial. It is human nature that people will not be able to love permanently, everyone against everyone power between the strongest. In this nation-state you must be the strongest in order to survive (survival of the fittest). In order to survive there are laws we must follow, to insure of our security because of fear. We were able to suppress our fear, by creating order, to have more order; we must have security, so the social contract appeared.