Topic: Social Contract Theory

Political Science
Instructor:
Minha Naz
(M.Phil. Political Science)
Contents
 John Locke
 Human nature
 The state of nature
 Need of the social contract to form a civil society
 Social contract
 Two contracts
 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
 Human nature
 State of nature
 General will by Rousseau
 Social contract
 Comparison between Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau
JOHN LOCKE

 A lot of philosophers tried to explain the

origin of society.
 One of the most important philosopher
was Locke.
 The theory of John Locke is found in his Two
Treaties on Civil Government published in
1690.
 The first treatise is concerned almost
exclusively with political authority was
derived from religious authority.
 The second treatise contains Locke’s own
constructive view of the aims and
justification for civil government.
 He divided his study in three steps:
Human nature:
how is the human being if there is not society.
Natural state:
how humans lived in the past when society didn’t
exist.
Social contract:
the contract humans “signed” for living in society.
HUMAN NATURE

 Humans are Rational.

 men are by nature free and equal.
 Man was neither selfish, nor self- seeking,
nor aggressive.
 equal and free to act they thought fit,
but within the bounds of the law of
nature.
 Men possess 3 natural rights.
 The right to life
 The right to liberty and equality
 Right to have Property.
 THE STATE OF NATURE
 According to Locke:
 It was pre-political and not pre- social.
 it is not chaotic because of human rationality.
 It was a peaceful state, without big wars
between all the humans.
 There exists an underlying “natural law” that
ensures men can enjoy their liberty condition to
that man ought not to harm his fellows or their
property.
NEED OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT TO
FORM A CIVIL SOCIETY
 State of Nature has some problems which are the reasons for the origin of
the society:
 Human’s defense was difficult.
 To ensure the life, the freedom and the property, human beings made
an agreement to create a new social order which would be more
organized.
 Society arises when men seeks to leave the State of Nature.
 To do so they surrender their rights mutually and creates a society in order
to enjoy collective rights.
 They submit to certain level of authority to form Government in order to
ensure safeguards for Natural Rights
 Locke believed that people entered into society to protect their “life,
liberty, and property”
 SOCIAL CONTRACT

 With this contract humans try to improve their life.

 recognize the authority of a leader, who makes
natural rights to be respected.
 Humans lose some rights which are given to the
leader who has to use it for the benefit of the rest of
the humans.
 if the government tries to be more powerful, being a
bad leader who doesn’t respect natural rights social
contract would break and people have the right to
rebel and destroy the government.
Two Contracts

Social Contract
 which brought into being the civil society or the State.
Governmental contract
 when society in its corporate capacity established a government
and selected a ruler to remove the inconveniences, which
necessitates the formation of the civil society or the State
 Locke recognized the existence of 3 powers in the civil society or
the state:
 legislative
 executive
 federative.
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

 He is the great French writer of the 18th

century.
 He elaborated his theory in his famous work
“The Social Contract” published in 1762.
 he wrote: “Men are born free, yet everywhere
are in chains.”
 He states that the civil society does nothing to
enforce the equality and individual liberty
that were promised to man when he entered
into that society.
 His most famous works are Discourse on the
Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among
Men.
 He argued in favor of direct democracy
HUMAN NATURE

 humans are born inherently good.

 He coined the term “Nobel
Savage”
 However, once the idea of private
property was introduced mankind
experienced a “fall from grace”.
 Individuals with many possessions
saw that it would be in their best
interest to create a government to
protect their possessions.
 STATE OF NATURE

 The State of Nature is a wonderful,

rich environment for early humans
living solitary peaceful lives.
 man in this state of nature was a
“noble savage” who led a life of
primitive simplicity and idyllic
happiness.
 He was independent, contented,
self- sufficient, healthy, and fearless
and “without need of his fellows or
desire to harm them.”
 GENERAL WILL BY ROUSSEAU

 The general will pertains to that which can direct the

state to the common good.
 Individual interests may differ with the general will.
However, all are compelled to obey the general will.
 power is vested in the general will, “sovereignty”
resides in the people.
 Equality of rights and justice only arise because of
the general will
 For Rousseau, the most important function of the
general will is to inform the creation of the laws of
the state.
 These laws, though codified by an impartial,
noncitizen “lawgiver,” must in their essence express
the general will.
 SOCIAL CONTRACT
 All men are made by nature to be equals, therefore no
one has a natural right to govern others, and therefore
the only justified authority is the authority that is
generated out of agreements or covenants.
 For Rousseau, the only legitimate political authority is
the authority consented to by all the people, who have
agreed to such government by entering into a social
contract for the sake of their mutual preservation.
 Social Contract a condition of equality among men
and ensures freedom.
 It entails surrendering one’s rights to the entire
community.
 Rousseau social Contract creates moral and collective
will for common good.
COMPARISON BETWEEN HOBBES,
LOCKE AND ROUSSEAU