hobbes was the main person that introduced the social contract theory of government in his book leviathan.
hobbes was the main person that introduced the social contract theory of government in his book leviathan.
who was the main person that introduced the social contract theory of government in his book leviathan?
hobbes
leviathan or the matter, forme and power of a common-wealth ecclesiasticall and civil—commonly referred to as leviathan—is a book written by thomas hobbes (1588–1679) and published in 1651 (revised latin edition 1668). its name derives from the biblical leviathan. the work concerns the structure of society and legitimate government, and is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory. "leviathan" ranks as a classic western work on statecraft comparable to machiavelli's "the prince". written during the english civil war (1642–1651), "leviathan" argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. hobbes wrote that civil war and the brute situation of a state of nature ("the war of all against all") could only be avoided by strong, undivided government.
leviathan (hobbes book)
the most prominent difference between murray rothbard's brand of austro-libertarianism—as espoused in his book, "the ethics of liberty",—and libertarian christianity revolves around his rejection of the social contract theory of government. libertarian christians have bible-based concepts of natural law and the social contract. in contrast, rothbard believes in natural law, but he does not believe in any viable social contract theory. in john locke's "second treatise on civil government", locke speaks of people surrendering natural rights in the process of entering a social contract, or more specifically, trading rights for the benefits of participation in the social contract. he indicates that this is a voluntary and consensual process. but locke fails to show how, once the social contract is established, the offspring of the original contract-makers volunteer into the contract, and thereby perpetuate the consensual nature of the original contract. this is the first of two major problems that rothbard sees in the social contract. rothbard recognizes this flaw not only in locke's philosophy, but also in the organic documents of the united states. the second problem arises by way of rothbard's commitment to a strict "title-transfer" theory of contracts. because of these two problems, rothbard rejects the social contract theory of government. --- rather than rejecting the social contract because of these two problems, libertarian christians use biblical exegesis to solve them. to solve the first problem, libertarian christianity shows how offspring of the original contract-makers either enter the contract voluntarily and consensually, or do not enter it at all (thereby removing themselves from the social contract's jurisdiction). to solve the second problem, libertarian christians hold to a "property-interest" theory of contracts that allows for the alienation of interests in labor and actions, even though they agree with rothbard regarding the inalienability of the human will. the implications of these distinctions are huge, in the view of libertarian christians, because, in their view, rothbard's anarcho-capitalism is inherently dysfunctional without a social contract that is understood to have a perpetual existence.
libertarian christianity