Social Contract Theory Essay, Research Paper
Hobbes Social Contract Theory
Thomas Hobbes starts his argument by discussing the nature of mankind.
One man can be better in something than another man, but in the end their
positive and negative qualities add up to make them equal. This equality
brings fear to men. They begin to suspect and hate one another, which brings
them to war. When men are at war; morality, values and injustice vanish. The
lack of a central governing system allows men to act according to their
understanding. Hobbes states three main principles that drive a man to war:
Competition, Fear, and Glory. “The first, maketh men invade for gain; the
second, for safety; and the third for reputation”. War lasts for a long time
regardless of the reason. Neglectful of how successful a war is, there are
always losses. Furthermore, if man is always at war, he loses culture,
resources, time, society, and morality. He starts relying on animal surviving
instinct, always keeping his guard against every other man. Fear of death
prevents men from constant involvement in wa
building and civilizing the world or to enjoy life. Being in constant war, or
fearing war takes up a lot or all of that time. In this state of anarchy, where
your and other lives are in permanent danger, one realizes that it is in
everyone’s best interest to make a contract to claim peace, sustain a minimal
morality of respecting human life, keeping covenants made, and obeying the
laws of the society. These Contracts are mutual transferring of rights between
two parties. They can range from deciding on peace between two quarreling
parties, with demands and peaceful sacrifices from both ends, to and
agreement between two merchants for goods and services. Hobbes goes
deeper by demonstrating different kinds of contracts such as covenants, and
Natural Laws that are kept with contracts. He also demonstrates that social
contracts improve our way of lives, by keeping peace and setting up morals,
laws, values, and compromises. To enforce such contracts, Hobbes suggests
imposing severe penalties on those who disobey the laws and/or break the
contracts.