Rousseau's Leviathan

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Recommended: Strengths and weaknesses of the social contract theory

Kira DuBose
March 20, 2018
Alexander Gourevitch
Intro. to Political Thought

“In a legitimate state all men are free and there is no inequality.” Spanning across centuries of philosophical texts, the topics of freedom and equality exist as the dominating arguments in a multitude of literary works that seek to strike the balance between natural rights and political dominance. Thomas Hobbes examined this argument in his work, Leviathan, a comprehensive analysis of mankind’s desire for power and competition, and the necessity of a ruling force to maintain order. Jean Jacques Rousseau took on a contrasting stance by highlighting humanity’s innate goodness and ability to prosper in a state of nature; however, also acknowledging the requirement …show more content…

Under these laws, all citizens were held to equal standards of conduct in exchange for relinquishing their freedom. “The passions that incline men to peace are fear of death, desire for things that are necessary for comfortable living, and a hope to obtain these by hard work” (Hobbes 59). Equality was formed through the laws as individuals transitioned from “natural people” whose words belonged to themselves to one “artificial person” in the form of the ruling …show more content…

The only obligations men possessed were self-preservation and pity, and according to Rousseau, these obligations were experienced by every man. Rousseau argued that the introduction of reason and societal pressures pushed the idea of inequality. “The State of Nature was happy and there was equality among men…. However, as time passed, people faced changes…. Most importantly, the introduction of private property, the downfall of the State of Nature…. the original ‘freedom, happiness, equality, and liberty’ were lost in modern civilization. Through the Social Contract, a new social organization (the state) was formed to handle these principles” (Elahi 5). The Social Contract acted as a sort of redemption for humanity that brought man as close to the freedom and equality that existed in the state of nature as possible while also maintaining rules to control the modern society. “Because each individual devotes himself to the social contract entirely, what is happening for one individual is happening for another individual, and so, no one has any interest in making things difficult for everyone….The union is made without reserve, it is as complete as it can be…Each man, by giving himself to everyone, gives himself to no one, and the right others have over himself is matched by his right over them” (The Social Contract

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