Hobbes and the motivations of social contract theory

1994 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-286
Author(s):  
Jonathan Wolff
Keyword(s):  
Social Contract ◽  
Contract Theory ◽  
Social Contract Theory

scholarly journals Contracting for Catastrophe:Legitimizing Emergency Constitutions by Drawing on Social Contract Theory

Res Publica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Voigt
Keyword(s):  
Social Contract ◽  
Contract Theory ◽  
Social Contract Theory ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Half Century ◽  
States Of Emergency ◽  
The World

AbstractStates of emergency are declared frequently in all parts of the world. Their declaration routinely implies a suspension of basic constitutional rights. In the last half century, it has become the norm for constitutions to contain an explicit ‘emergency constitution’, i.e., the constitutionally safeguarded rules of operation for a state of emergency. In this paper, I ask whether inclusion of an emergency constitution can be legitimized by drawing on social contract theory. I argue that there are important arguments, both against and in favor of constitutionalized emergency provisions, and that social contract theory—as applied by economists—can be of some help when deciding whether to have, or not to have an emergency constitution. This paper introduces a novel argument for justifying emergency constitutions. It argues that they can serve as a commitment mechanism protecting both citizens and politicians from overreacting to rare but significant threats.

scholarly journals Evaluating social contract theory in the light of evolutionary social science

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-45
Author(s):  
Paul Seabright ◽  
Jonathan Stieglitz ◽  
Karine Van der Straeten
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Contract Theory ◽  
Social Contract Theory

scholarly journals Konsep Nation-State dalam Pemikiran Ideologi Politik Melayu Islam pada Abad Ke-19 M (Studi Pemikiran Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir Munsyi (1787-1854)

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-146
Author(s):  
Andi Chandra Jaya
Keyword(s):  
Social Contract ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Contract Theory ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Social Contract Theory ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Nation State ◽  
State Management ◽  
The Social

The focus of this study is to answer the subject matter of how the concept of the nation-state according to Abdullah Munsyi in the constellation of Malay Islamic political ideology in the 19th century AD and how is the relevance of the concept of the current Indonesian nation state ? The study used the conscience morale theory of Ernest Renan and the social contract theory initiated by J. J. Roussae. This research is included in the library research category and uses historical approaches and political philosophy. The primary data in this study are Abdullah Musnyi's Hikayat Abdullah book published by Yayasan Karyawan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2007 and secondary data, in the form of books, journal articles, papers, and others related to research problems. the findings of the research are: 1). In accordance with the theory of conscience morale Ernest Renan and the social contract theory initiated by J. J. Roussae, Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir Munsyi was the originator of nationalism. Through his most important work, Hikayat Abdullah, he put forward the formulation of Malay identity in the formulation of the nation which was understood as a Malay tribe or race who had the right to be involved in determining the Malay political format not as a community under a political system that was authoritarian. 2). His closeness with the British colonial side, thus forming the liberal thinking he obtained from Raffles and his friends. He not only dismantled the manipulation of royal ideology, but at the same time put forward a new view of the existence of a humanist individual. 3). The understanding of nationality has egalitarian values ​​that are very relevant to the current Indonesian context, especially the values ​​of equality (egalitarianism) in the midst of the emergence of conflicts in various conflicts today. Likewise the concept of nation-state is closely related to nationalism and good governance where good governance is based on the absolute existence of transparency, open participation, and accountability in all state activities at every level of state management, so that a clean government is formed. Keywords: Abdullah Munsyi, Nation-State, and Malay Political ideology

The Epicureans on Human Nature and its Social and Political Consequences

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Jan Maximilian Robitzsch
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Contract Theory ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Social Contract Theory ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
The Social

Based on certain passages in Colotes, Hermarchus, and Horace, the Epicureans may be thought to defend a social contract theory that is roughly Hobbesian. According to such a view, human life without the social contract is solitary and brutish. This paper argues that such a reading is mistaken. It offers a systematic analysis of Lucretius’s culture story in On the Nature of Things v as well as the Epicurean passages that at first sight seem to contradict the Lucretian account. The conclusion of such an analysis is not only that all extant evidence is internally consistent, but also that Epicurean social contract theory relies on a ‘dynamic’ conception of human nature: On the Epicurean view, agents have very different psychological motivations when coming together to form societies and when coming together to form political and legal states.

Gendering the General Will: Frankenstein’s Breaches of Contract

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoe Beenstock
Keyword(s):  
Social Contract ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Contract Theory ◽  
Social Contract Theory ◽  
Test Cases ◽  
General Will ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Creation Stories

As a sociable being that is barred from society, Frankenstein’s monster presents a sustained engagement with social contract theory’s major dilemma of whether individualism can produce sociability. The male creature’s isolation and inner disunity suggest that contract theory displaces men and is unable to concatenate even those members that should be eligible for full citizenship. Shelley focuses on the gender inequality of contract theory through her different creation stories of the creatures’ bodies. In Victor’s decision not to complete the female creature she rejects Wollstonecraft’s revisionist approach to Rousseau, and demonstrates that social contract theory cannot be rewritten to include women. Women are not defined as political subjects but do have independent wills. Therefore, they are potentially resistant to contract and a threat to political control. Contending with Wollstonecraft and Rousseau, and also Coleridge and Godwin, Shelley suggests that intertextual relations produce unpredictable results. The creatures are test cases for the social contract’s respective failures in terms of social cohesion and gender.

‘What is Established’?: Hume’s Social Philosophy of Opinion

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryu Susato
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Contract Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Contract Theory ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Ancient Constitution

This chapter discusses the theoretical connection between Hume’s arguments on imagination in theTreatise and opinion in Essays, Moral and Political, through which Hume’s keen awareness of the fragility of civilisation and the changeability of our social systems is elucidated. Although commentators have tended to base their understandings of Hume as a conservative thinker on his repeated emphasis on the importance of custom and habit to consolidate our beliefs, Hume’s anti-rationalism and emphasis on custom do not necessarily lead him to defend ‘tradition’ as such indiscriminately. Rather, his point lies in revealing that what is normally considered ‘tradition’ in fact consists of nothing but public opinion concerning what is thought to be established. This chapter will also reveal that this viewpoint is consistent with Hume’s criticism of the myth of the ancient constitution and social contract theory. This point is vital for our understanding of the ‘historical’ Hume, because some of his contemporaries criticised his History not only for his alleged Toryism, but also for his inconsistency with these earlier standpoints.

Normative legitimacy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allyn Fives
Keyword(s):  
Social Contract ◽  
Contract Theory ◽  
Social Contract Theory ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Theoretical Position ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
Control Authority ◽  
Critical Overview ◽  
Best Fit

Without in any way claiming to be exhaustive, in this chapter, I offer a critical overview of numerous ways in which philosophers have evaluated the legitimacy of power. My exegesis will take a particular form as I have a specific purpose in mind. Although I will discuss numerous theoretical positions (in particular, republicanism, anarchism, various forms of liberalism, and social contract theory), I do not pretend to offer a comprehensive judgement of their value as political theories. I do not have the space required to do justice to such a task, but in any case it would not meet our current needs. I am not concerned here with which theoretical position is the best ‘fit’ with the reality of parental power, although in the main it is in those terms that they have been presented to us. Rather, I will analyse these various opposing theoretical arguments in order to illustrate how moral values may come into conflict when we evaluate the legitimacy of parents’ power in concrete situations. I hope to show the inadequacy of efforts made to equate power with one of its forms and, in that way, to reduce moral complexity concerning the legitimacy of power, namely arguments about liberty, coercion, control, authority, and paternalism. Even among those who concern themselves with, say, coercion, seemingly intractable moral disagreements arise, and these theoretical disagreements are, I shall argue, evidence of underlying conflicts between independent moral values.

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