Social Contract Blog

BLOG ENTRY 1 – Definitions 

  According to Thomas Hobbes, in his book Leviathan (which was influenced by the British Civil War of 1651), men originally lived in a fearful and selfish ‘state of nature’ which was characterized by lawlessness and was therefore “solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short” (Lloyd and Sreedhar, 2002). In order to overcome this miserable existence, and to have the feeling of safety, Hobbes contended that men would ‘voluntarily surrender’ their rights and freedoms to a supreme authority figure who, in exchange, would guarantee the protection of their lives and property (Iep.utm.edu, 2014). This exchange, where the ruler has absolute civil and moral authority, is the social contract Hobbes urges all citizens to accept so that they may live by their “rational capacity to pursue their desires as efficiently and maximally as possible” (Social Contract Theory Hobbes, 2014).   

Illustration from the original edition of Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, by Abraham Bosse (1651).
Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/the-real-terrifying-reason-why-british-authorities-detained-david-miranda/278952/ 

Rousseau, in opposition to Hobbes, wrote in his book “The Social Contract” that man was actually free, happy and equal in the ‘state of nature’. It is his contention that once the human population began increasing, people evolved to live in communal settings and this gave rise to the notion of private property and competition in public life – the point at which humanity ‘fell from grace’ (Bertram, 2004). In his famous words “Born free, the human being everywhere is in chains” (Rousseau and Cress, 1983). To remedy this, Rousseau argues that people signed on to a social contract that places in a body – the sovereign state – the collective ‘general will’ which guarantees citizens’ rights and civil liberties (Rousseau and Frankel, 1947). He believed, also in opposition to Hobbes, that if the sovereign didn’t conform to a majority of the peoples’ general will, they were breaking the social contract and could be discarded. 

Source: http://hua.umf.maine.edu/Reading_Revolutions/Rousseau.html

Locke, also in opposition to Hobbes, and more in line with Rousseau, believed that man in a ‘state of nature’ (despite his property not being fully secure) enjoyed living in a “Golden Age” characterized by “peace, goodwill, mutual assistance, and preservation” (Morris, 1999). In this almost utopian ‘state of liberty’, all men were naturally equal, fully independent and free to pursue their desires as they wished (within reason) (Boucher and Kelly, 1994). According to Locke, people were drawn to signing a social contract to protect their private property (which consists of not just land, but also labour and natural resources). Under this social contract, men would receive a government that upheld a set of natural laws to govern their property, judges to decide on disputes and a force with power to punish criminal offenders (Barker et al., 1960). Also like Rousseau, and unlike Hobbes, Locke believed that the power of the government was not absolute (“a state of liberty; not of licence”), and could be revoked if they failed in their constitutionally limited duty (Constitution.org, 2014).

Source: http://ravenseniors.wikispaces.com/John+Locke 

BLOG ENTRY 2 – Reflections 

  While looking at the historical evolution of different social contract regimes since the time of its formulation by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, we notice selective schemes targeted at the ‘impotent poor’ and administered by Church parishes and subsequently in the UK via workhouses for the ‘deserving poor’ (O’Brien & Penna, 1998). In the post-World War II era, there was a shift in many Western countries towards a ‘welfare state’ regime which implied a social contract that “ensured certain fundamental living standards for all its citizens” (Hall & Midgley, 2004, pp.4). Nowadays, every western European country has in place a social contract that guarantees universal citizenship rights and commits to public investments in key social sectors such as housing, pensions, education, social security and healthcare (Hall & Midgley, 2004). 

Dinnertime at St Pancras Workhouse, London.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workhouse#mediaviewer/File:Women_mealtime_st_pancras_workhouse.jpg 

SocialContractStefanShakhazizyanAn interesting (ongoing) development after the financial crisis and economic recession of 2008 is the “complete rewriting of the implicit social contracts that have existed since the end of the Second World War” (Chang, 2012). The governments’ first response was to spend lavishly on stimulus packages, but soon they switched to austerity measures to reduce spending, rather than stimulate growth, in order to balance their budgets (Blackstone, Karnitschnig and Thomson, 2014). In practise this has meant “cutting pay and social welfare, attacking bargaining mechanisms and making employment contracts ultraflexible” – which, instead of helping, has stifled growth and blocked job creation (Oecdobserver.org, 2014). The disastrous consequences of these policies (for example: 50% youth unemployment in Spain, later retirement age, homeowners losing their houses) have led to the rise of nationalist movements across the EU such as Greece’s neo-fascist Golden Dawn, Italy’s anarchist Five Star Movement, France’s anti-Arab National Front and Britain’s Europhobic United Kingdom Independence Party (Unger, 2014).

A homeless woman in Athens. With millions in Greece and the rest of Europe facing long-term poverty, fringe movements are rising. Petros Giannakouris/Associated Press

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/europes-social-contract-lying-in-pieces.html 

As Chang (2012) explains, the real danger is that these “back door” austerity measures are not just hurting the economies of the EU countries, but by “being explicitly cast as a rewriting of the social contract, changing people's entitlements and changing the way society is established”, they are undermining the very legitimacy of the entire political system. If our three political philosophers were alive today, I sense that while Hobbes, who believed in absolute authority of the ruler, would be OK with this state of affairs, Rousseau and Locke would be fine with overthrowing the sovereign state, and violently, if necessary, in the case of Rousseau (a la the French Revolution).     

Rioters beat a policeman during a rally against government austerity measures in Athens. Photograph: John Kolesidis/REUTERS
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/28/europe-riots-root-imf-austerity 

Bibliography

• Barker, E., Hopkins, G., Locke, J., Hume, D. and Rousseau, J. (1960). Social contract. London: Oxford University Press.

• Bertram, C. (2004). Routledge philosophy guidebook to Rousseau and the social contract. London: Routledge.

• Blackstone, B., Karnitschnig, M. and Thomson, R. (2014). Europe's Banker Talks Tough. [online] WSJ. Available at: http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203960804577241221244896782 [Accessed 8 Nov. 2014].

• Boucher, D. and Kelly, P. (1994). The social contract from Hobbes to Rawls. London: Routledge.

• Chang, H. (2012). The root of Europe's riots | Ha-Joon Chang. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/28/europe-riots-root-imf-austerity [Accessed 7 Nov. 2014].Constitution.org, (2014). John Locke: Second Treatise of Civil Government: Chapter 2. [online] Available at: http://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtr02.htm [Accessed 5 Nov. 2014].

• Constitution.org, (2014). John Locke: Second Treatise of Civil Government: Chapter 2. [online] Available at: http://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtr02.htm [Accessed 5 Nov. 2014].

• Hall, A. & J. Midgley (2004) ‘Social policy for development: local, national and global dimensions.’ In A. Hall & J. Midgley, Social Policy for Development, London: Sage.

• Hobbes, Thomas (1994 [1651]). Leviathan, Edwin Curely, ed. Indianapolis: Hackett.

• Iep.utm.edu, (2014). Social Contract Theory | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [online] Available at: http://www.iep.utm.edu/soc-cont/ [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014].

• Lloyd, S. and Sreedhar, S. (2002). Hobbes's Moral and Political Philosophy. [online] Plato.stanford.edu. Available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/ [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014].

• Locke, John (1960 [1689]). The Second Treatise of Government in Two Treatises of Government, Peter Laslett, ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 283-446.

• Morris, C. (1999). The social contract theorists. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield.

• O'Brien, M. and Penna, S. (1998). Theorising Welfare: Enlightenment and Modern Society. Sage.

• Oecdobserver.org, (2014). Towards growth and a social contract for Europe - OECD Observer. [online] Available at: http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/3790/Towards_growth_and_a__93social_contract_94_for_Europe.html [Accessed 7 Nov. 2014].

• Rousseau, J. and Cress, D. (1983). On the social contract. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co.

• Rousseau, J. and Frankel, C. (1947). The social contract. New York: Hafner Pub. Co.

• Social Contract Theory Hobbes, L. (2014). Social Contract Theory by Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. [online] Academia.edu. Available at: http://www.academia.edu/3138759/Social_Contract_Theory_by_Hobbes_Locke_and_Rousseau [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014]. 

• Unger, D. (2014). Europe’s Social Contract, Lying in Pieces. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/europes-social-contract-lying-in-pieces.html [Accessed 7 Nov. 2014].