The State of Nature and its Implications for Civilization in Hobbes and Rousseau In his Leviathan Thomas Hobbes expresses a philosophy of civilization which is both practical and just and stems from a clear moral imperative. He begins with the assertion that in the state of nature man is condemned to live a life "solitary‚ poore‚ nasty‚ brutish‚ and short." It is in the interest of every man to rise above this "state of nature" and to give up certain rights so that the violent nature of the
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Margaret Canovan argued that Hannah Arendt failed to realize that political opinions too have drawbacks. According to Arendt‚ different people have different opinions and claims that one political opinion can bring an enhancement on another. Based on this assumption‚ she adopted Kant’s notion of “judgement‚” that is‚ “to think for the sake of general” into her political thinking. But Habermas rejected her ideas on the ground that it is “monologic.” She seems to have left no room for “rational truth”
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Theorists Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault present their views on the power/knowledge affiliation in works such as Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil and Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. While reading the pair‚ it becomes almost impossible not to relate or apply their visions onto the contemporary society. One may even argue that they resonate with current systems of government. Eichmann in Jerusalem‚ albeit a collection of articles for the New Yorker‚ was published
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the Human Condition‚ by Hannah Arendt‚ the fundamental qualities of human behavior are described and analyzed. These qualities are first expressed by discussing the different aspects of life for Athenian Greeks. Arendt describes the division between public and private life and how it should be applied in the modern American society as well. Technology and capitalism are blurring the lines of Arendt’s civic ideal between the public and private realms of society. Arendt refers to the three elements
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Arendt: The Human Condition-Action Summary Hannah Arendt’s Action chapter in “The Human Condition” analyses the relationship between action and human existence. One’s actions are interpreted as the defining factor in “who” an individual is‚ as opposed to “what”. While the individual may be performer of his own specific action‚ interpretation of said task is out of his hands‚ making the individual slave to the interpretation of others. The tasks one performs suffer under the critical gaze of all
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will analyze both Hobbes’ and Rousseau’s view on the Nature of Man. Through my analysis of both‚ I will show contrast and comparison between both philosophical views. I will identify and explain the central aspect of the Nature of Man as identified by Hobbes and Rousseau and will make connections through a series of explanations and examples that were presented by Hobbes and Rousseau. Hobbes talks about his view of Human Nature in his book The Leviathan. His central belief was built around the idea
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Hannah Arendt was a german-american philosopher. She was born in Germany on October 14‚ 1906. She died in New York on December 4‚ 1975. She came from a Jewish family and lost her father at a young age. Hannah studied philosophy at several universities‚ including University of Marburg in Germany. At Marburg she studied with Martin Heidegger‚ a german philosopher. He was her professor and they soon were in a romantic relationship that lasted three years. In 1928 she earned her Ph.D. at the University
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Rousseau‚ your claims on the state of nature are questionable. You first claim that people equal in nature and thus are in a better state in nature. Yet‚ you then state that nature makes people more physically apt and that only the strong can survive. This would imply that a form of inequality‚ a natural prejudice would form against those not physically capable. Thus‚ you contradict yourself by stating that nature is equal and then imply a form of inequality in nature. In addition‚ it is important
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau makes the provocative claim that the transfer of sovereignty involves in the election of representatives signifies a loss of freedom: "The instant a people chooses representatives‚ it is no longer free." (On the Social Contract‚ p.103) Do you agree with Rousseau? The book "On the Social Contract" published on 1762 by Jean-Jacques Rousseau is one of his most important works‚ which points out the basis for a genuine political order and freedom. One of Jean-Jacques Rousseau main ideas
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Rousseau: The Social Contract In Book I of the Social Contract‚ Rousseau suggests that towards a certain stage in the state of nature‚ people feel the need to bind themselves to one another. Individuals bind themselves to a larger community and form a social contract. Rousseau’s main argument in Book I is that the community that is formed by the gathering of individuals is not simply an aggregation of the interests of all the individuals that form it. It is a distinct entity –in a way‚ a distinct
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