ASSIGNMENT

Political Science (Major)

SUBMITTED BY:
Prosfutita Singha

SEMESTER
SF0121045

FACULTY-IN-CHARGE
Dr. Mayengbam Nandakishwor Singh

TOPIC
Social Contract Theory of Thomas Hobbes
CONTENTS
1. WHAT IS SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY 3-4

2. WHO WAS THOMAS HOBBES 4

3. SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY OF THOMAS HOBBES 4-6

4. CRITICISMS OF HOBBES THEORY 6-7

5. CONCLUSION 7-8
WHAT IS SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY?

Social contract theory, nearly as old as philosophy itself, is the view that person’s moral and/or political
obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they
live. 1 It’s a voluntary agreement amongst individuals through which an organized society, or state, is
brought into existence. 2 Socrates uses something quite like a social contract argument to explain to Crito
why he must remain in prison and accept the death penalty. The social contract was introduced by early
modern thinkers—Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, Samuel Pufendorf, and John Locke and has been
revived by modern theorists like John Rawls.1 It is often associated with the liberal tradition in political
theory, because it presupposes the fundamental freedom and equality of all those entering into a political
arrangement and the associated rights that follow from the principles of basic freedom and equality. From
that starting point, often conceptualized via the metaphor of a ―state of nature‖, social contract theory
develops an account of political legitimacy, grounded in the idea that naturally free and equal human
beings have no right to exercise power over one another, except in accordance with the principle of
mutual consent. In its classic form, social contract theory has three elements:

1. The image of a hypothetical stateless society ‘state of nature’ is established.

2. Individuals therefore seek to escape from the state of nature by entering into a social contract,
recognizing that only a sovereign power can secure order and stability.
3. The social contract obliges citizens to respect and obey the state, ultimately in gratitude for the
stability and security that only a system of political rule can deliver. 1

The factors leading to Social Contract are: Equality of need, Scarcity, Equality of human power, limited
altruism.1 These factors create real problems in the absence of any social order or moral rules.1 The
strongest incentive is to avoid the state of nature and the war of all against all that Hobbes warns us
about.1 To do this we need to establish a mutual agreement that involves two factors. 1 First, that we will
not harm one another and second that we will keep our word with one another. 1 These two factors, which
Hobbes saw as the primary responsibility of government, would allow us to come together and cooperate
socially as well as economically.1

1 Aleesha DosReis Falcao, “ A CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY PROPOUNDED BY GROTIUS AND
HOBBES”, 3
2 Andrew Heywood, POLITICS, 5 th ed, (2019), 132
WHO WAS THOMAS HOBBES?

Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679, was an English Political Philosopher. He was the son of a minor clergyman
who subsequently abandoned his family. 3 He lived during the most crucial period of early modern
England’s history: the English Civil War, waged from 1642-1648.4 He became tutor to the exiled Prince
of Wales, Charles Stewart and lived under the patronage of the Cavendish family. 3 To describe this
conflict in the most general of terms, it was a clash between the King and his supporters, the Monarchists,
who preferred the traditional authority of a monarch, and the Parliamentarians, most notably led by Oliver
Cromwell, who demanded more power for the quasi-democratic institution of Parliament.4 Hobbes
represents a compromise between these two factions. 4 Living during the civil wars in England, Hobbes
was convinced of the overwhelming importance of state authority, which he thought ought to be vested in
an absolute ruler.4 In the struggle between Long Parliament and Charles I, Hobbes defended the cause of
the King.4 In theory, Hobbes, like most writers of his time, acknowledges the authority of natural law. 4
But he understands it in a sense fundamentally different from those writers for whom natural law
constitutes a definite objective order superior to positive law.4 Writing at a time of uncertainty and civil
strife, precipitated by the English Revolution, Hobbes developed the first comprehensive theory of nature
and human behaviour since Aristotle. 3 His classic work Leviathan (1651) discussed the grounds of
political obligation and undoubtedly reflected the impact of the Civil War. 3 It provided a defence for
absolutist government but, by appealing to reasoned argument in the form of the social contract, also
disappointed advocates of divine right. 3

SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY OF THOMAS HOBBES

In theory Hobbes, like most writers of his time, acknowledges the authority of natural law. But he
understands it in a sense fundamentally different from those writers for whom natural law constitutes a
definite objective order superior to positive law. 4 Hobbes acknowledges objective rules of natural law of
an immutable character, but he divests them of any practical significance by depriving them of
sanctions.4 The chief principle of natural law for Hobbes is the natural right of self-preservation.4 This is
connected with his view of the state of nature in which men live without a common power to keep them
all in awe, they are in that condition which is called Warre; and such a warre, as is of every man, against

3 Andrew Heywood, POLITICS, 5 th ed, (2019), 130-131

4Aleesha DosReis Falcao, “ A CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY PROPOUNDED BY GROTIUS AND
HOBBES”, 11
every man. 4 In this natural state man pursues solely his own advantage without regard for anyone else and
recognizes no limitation of his rights. Hence a state of perpetual and devastating warfare which threatens
everyone exists.4 But natural reason dictates to man the rule of self preservation, in pursuit of which man
tries to escape from this state of permanent insecurity. 4 He does so by transferring all his natural rights to
the ruler, whom he promises henceforth to obey unconditionally. 4 Thomas Hobbes in many respects
improved the social contract theory and made it an essential part of a system of extraordinary logical
power.4

Hobbes believed that a state is absolutely necessary because only a sovereign body that enjoys a
monopoly of the means of coercion is able to prevent conflict and competition from spilling over into
barbarism. 5 Life in the absence of state would be, as Hobbes famously put in, ‘solitary, poor, nasty,
brutish and short.6 This is the sad misfortunes suffered by so-called ‘failed’ states where civil war and
warlordism take hold in the absence of a credible system of law and order. 6 He clearly states in Leviathan
that where resistance is successful the sovereign ceases to govern, the subjects are thrown back upon their
original position and may now transfer their obedience to a new ruler. 5 The Obligation of Subjects to the
Sovereign is understood to last as long, and no longer, than the power last, by which he is able to protect
them. 5

Hobbes argued that the state was a product of the will of the people. 7 Sovereignty is an attribute of the
state; its character determined by the terms of the social contract. 7 As men emerge from state of nature-
characterized by law of the jungle and form a state to attain order, peace and security, they create a
sovereign for this purpose.7 The surrender is complete, final and irrevocable. 7 Defying the authority of the
sovereign would mean reversion to the state of nature, the state of anarchy, law of the jungle, where the
stronger will be free to oppress the weaker. 7 Hobbes, therefore, places authority of the sovereign beyond
challenge. 7 His chief contribution to the theory of sovereignty consists in adding an element of legitimacy
to authority of the sovereign, because be held;
a) That the sovereign is the product of the will of the people
b) That the sovereign enjoys his supreme authority for its functional value, that is, by virtue of
providing order, peace and security in the place of anarchy and oppression.7

5Aleesha DosReis Falcao, “ A CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY PROPOUNDED BY GROTIUS AND
HOBBES”, 12

6 Andrew Heywood, POLITICS, 5 th ed, (2019), 144

7 O.P Gauba, An Introduction to Political Theory, 5 th ed, 2009, 230
Thus, the state is sovereign and exercises absolute and unrestricted power, in that, it stands above all other
associations and groups in society. 8Hobbes conveyed this idea by portraying the state as a ‘Leviathan’, a
gigantic monster, usually represented as a sea creature.8

Hobbes conception of sovereignty is thus entirely rational and utilitarian. 9 It is purely the result of rational
individual self-interest which supersedes the irrational and thus self-destructive lust for power as man
pursues it in the state of nature.9 Thus, Hobbes destroys all that was left of medieval conceptions of
authority and law.9 The Church is deprived of the authority of divine law, natural law is no longer a
superior law, the autonomous corporation, essential to medieval society, is eliminated, and there remains
the human individual, a strange mixture of animal and rational being. For his protection alone, there is
law and authority.9

CRITICISMS OF HOBBES THEORY

Hobbes emphatically rejects any contractual or quasi-contractual right by which subjects could demand
fulfillment of certain obligations by the ruler. 9 His ‘social contract’ is therefore no true contract but a
logical fiction.9 There is only one condition attached to the absolute power of the ruler: that he can govern
and keep order.9 Moreover, he naturally discourages civil disobedience, but he clearly states in Leviathan
that where resistance is successful the sovereign ceases to govern, the subjects are thrown back upon their
original position and may now transfer their obedience to a new ruler. 9

Hobbes theory was challenged by John Locke who felt that our morality is not based on law and
government, or the social contract. 9 David Hume heavily criticized Hobbes version of the social contract.9
Firstly, he points out that there had never been a situation called the state of nature and that nobody had
consented to a social contract, mainly because the social contract was purely hypothetical. 9 A lot of his
views are backed up with religion making them less believable to some readers.9

8 Andrew Heywood, POLITICS, 5 th ed, (2019), 127

9Aleesha DosReis Falcao, “ A CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY PROPOUNDED BY GROTIUS AND
HOBBES”, 13, 16
Hobbes theory would appear flawless only if a perfect and infallible person or assembly could be found
and established as sovereign. 10 But how can imperfect mortals justify the exercise of such universal and
absolute authority in the real world?10 Thus, the idea of social contract as depicted by Hobbes, was
historically improbable and philosophically unnecessary to explain allegiance. 10

Hobbes might have paid rich tributes to the state for creating congenial conditions for the happiness of
men, but has failed to evolve any concept of rights. 10 Absence of rights makes the happiness of
individuals depend on the chance benevolence of the powers-that-be.10 If there are no rights to curb the
authority of the government and to prescribe functions of the government, the sate assumes unbridled
power which will soon degenerate into absolutism, authoritarianism, despotism and tyranny. 10
Glorification of the state without an in-built mechanism to curb authority of the state means complete
subordination of individual to the ruler or the ruling groups, thereby opening the floodgates of corruption,
oppression, exploitation and injustice. 10

Lastly, Hobbes particularly eulogized the authority of the monarch. People’s representatives have a very
limited role in this scheme – to convey the popular feelings for their consideration and decision.10 It is in
fact an elitist theory with no provision of public control. This theory is thus, democratic only so long as it
accepts the primary of public interest in policy-making. But it is undemocratic in practice because it sets
aside the democratic procedure

CONCLUSION

There is no such perfect theory written till now which will define a perfect utopian society. Every theory
has its own set of appreciation and criticisms, however, we must remember only after such contracts were
established, society became possible, and people can be expected to keep their promises, cooperate with
one another, and so on. 11 The Social Contract is the most fundamental source of all that is good and that
which we depend upon to live well.11 Our choice is either to abide by the terms of the contract, or return
11
to the State of Nature, which Hobbes argues no reasonable person could possibly prefer.

The social contract was an 'occurrence' during which individuals came together and ceded some of their
individual rights so that others would cede theirs.11 This resulted in the establishment of the state, a

10 O.P Gauba, An Introduction to Political Theory, 5 th ed, 2009, 230, 234,339

11Aleesha DosReis Falcao, “ A CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY PROPOUNDED BY GROTIUS AND
HOBBES”, 18
sovereign entity like the individuals now under its rule used to be, which would create laws to regulate
social interactions. Human life is thus no longer "a war of all against all".11

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

References:

Andrew Heywood, POLITICS, 5th ed, (2019), 132, 131, 127, 130
Aleesha DosReis Falcao, “A CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY
PROPOUNDED BY GROTIUS AND HOBBES”, 1-18
O.P Gauba, An Introduction to Political Theory, 5th ed, 2009, 230, 234,339