What is the argumentative function of Hobbes’s ‘state of nature’ and of Rawls’s ‘original position?’ Compare these accounts and critically assess their cogency. Both Hobbes’ ‘state of nature’ and Rawls’ ‘original position’ are used to provide individuals with good reason to consent to a social contract and to accept their state. The two arguments are formulated with quite different end goals in mind. The ‘state of nature’ presents a terrifying world without reason or safety and is designed to force
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Social Contract Theories 1. John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice 2. David Gauthier 4. Contemporary Critiques of Social Contract Theory 1. Feminist Arguments 1. The Sexual Contract 2. The Nature of the Liberal Individual 3. Arguing from Care 2. Race-Conscious Argument 5. Conclusion
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into disrepute until John Rawls resurrected it. It is now at the heart of the work of a number of moral and political philosophers. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contract the social contract theorists and their views on the origin of state. THOMAS HOBBES: (1588-1679) Background: He was born into a time of violence when the civil war broke out in England between the royalists‚ who supported the king and the Protestants‚ who supported the parliament. Hobbes was a robust supporter
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Canadian cognitive scientist and psychologist Steven Pinker defines the neutrality within humans : “Human nature is complex. Even if we do have inclinations toward violence‚ we also have inclination to empathy‚ to cooperation‚ to self-control.” The novel‚ Lord of the Flies by William Golding‚ focuses on the transition in humans when there is little to no government involved‚ how one begins to adapt to their surroundings as a result when a group of stranded boys arrive as civilized individuals who
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material being‚ just one with great powers. Hobbes sought legitimacy for government not founded in religion‚ because his sort of religion wasn’t what most Christians would regard as Christianity. He also saw that a new source of legitimacy for the state was needed‚ because kings and priests had been working very hard at destroying their own legitimacy. He wrote Leviathan during the English Civil War in 1648.The Thirty Years War ended‚ while the English Civil War started in
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are two objections that interrelated to verify Hobbe’s assertions to be inaccurate. The first objection would be that the specific mechanism that initiates Hobbes’s assertion of the state of nature is actually not egoism‚ but rather‚ the idea of “uncertainty”. The second objection would be that the state of nature does not necessarily mean lack of government. Conflict‚ violence‚ and war are still very prevalent in today’s society although we have authority such as the government. The idea of
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The “State of Nature” in this post-9/11 21st Century America is one of self-induced fear‚ not by the US citizens but by our president. With constant reminders of terrorist threats against the US‚ as well as the constant state of high alert‚ the president has placed Americans in a tough place. US citizens are in constant fear and are looking to their government for protection. This idea stems back to the writings of Hobbes in Leviathan. Hobbes critiques the effects of government‚ or as lack there
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The contract states that there is a way for a person to be part of a society‚ yet still be able to answer to themselves alone. Jean Jacques Rousseau‚ Thomas Hobbes‚ and John Locke all have different views on this contract. Jean Jacques Rousseau believed that men would form a progressive state from wild men to conform to society‚ but states that it would not be a good thing as it would allow for corruption and negative feelings. “However we have no moral liberty in the state of nature‚ because we
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were both social contract theorists‚ and both natural law theorists (Natural law in the sense of Saint Thomas Aquinas‚ not Natural law in the sense of Newton)‚ but there the resemblance ends. All other natural law theorists assumed that man was by nature a social animal. Hobbes assumed otherwise‚ thus his conclusions are strikingly different from those of other natural law theorists. In addition to his unconventional conclusions about natural law‚ Hobbes was fairly infamous for producing numerous
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main intention of nature‚ which willeth the increase of mankind‚ and the continuation of the species in the highest perfection" "The people can not delegate to government the power to do anything which would be unlawful for them to do themselves." "The end of law is not to abolish or restrain freedom‚ but to preserve and enlarge freedom." "There can not anyone moral rule be proposed‚ where of a man may not justly demand a reason." "If man in the state of nature be so free‚ as has
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