Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

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Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

• Fear of others in the state of nature
  (apart from society) prompts people
  to form governments through a social contract
• State power/authority (the sovereign) is based on
  the choice of subjects that there be one will.
  Since the sovereign determines what is right,
  rebellion against the sovereign is unjustified
• As brutal as a State may be, it is always better
  than having no State or government

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John Locke (1632-1704)

• We have God-given rights to our
  lives, liberty, property (e.g., bodies)
• We establish governments to clarify protect our
  natural rights. State authority is thus based on
  the consent of the people, who can rebel against
  the State if it fails to respect our rights
• Tacit consent is given by anyone who lives in a
  country and is protected by its laws

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78)

• I am obligated to obey the law only if
  it is self-imposed. Externally-imposed laws are
  based on force and are not morally legitimate
• The social contract is our tacit agreement to
  abide by the general will, which is what we all
  will for ourselves as members of a community
• Objection consent is often uninformed and
  unavoidable (Hume)

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Contemporary LiberalismJohn Rawls Justice as
Fairness

• All citizens should share in a societys wealth
  and be given equal economic opportunities
• In a just society, rational individuals under a
  veil of ignorance about their original position
  in the society should endorse a theory that
• gives everyone as much liberty as possible
• allows for the unequal distribution of wealth
  only when the existence of such inequalities
  benefits everyone and is accessible to everyone

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Critiques of Social Contract Theories

• Communitarianism the States authority does not
  depend on the consent of individuals rather,
  individuals depend on the State for their
  fulfillment and identity (Aristotle, Hegel)
• Feminism because women typically are expected to
  focus on private (family) matters, they are
  excluded from full participation in the social
  contract

Susan Okin
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Types of Justice

• Retributive justice punishment/reward given to
  someone for something he/she has done
• Distributive justice the distribution of goods,
  services, or responsibilities based on
• productivity and merit (Plato)
• social utility, public interest (J. S. Mill)
• need and ability (socialism Marx)
• equal opportunity (welfare liberalism Rawls)
• ownership of property, entitlement, free choices
  (classical liberalism Nozick)

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Karl Marx(1818-85)

• Human beings are naturally inclined
  to work and be sociable. Capitalism alienates us
  from the products of our labor and thus alienates
  us from ourselves and others
• Only communal ownership of property can
  counteract social alienation

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Types of Justice

• Retributive justice punishment/reward given to
  someone for something he/she has done
• Distributive justice the distribution of goods,
  services, or responsibilities based on
• productivity and merit (Plato)
• social utility, public interest (J. S. Mill)
• need and ability (socialism Marx)
• equal opportunity (welfare liberalism Rawls)
• ownership of property, entitlement, free choices
  (classical liberalism Nozick)

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Minimal State (Entitlement) TheoryRobert Nozick

• We are entitled to use our property as we see
  fit. The States legitimate power is limited to
  preventing harm and protecting property rights
• Taxation for anything other than protection (e.g,
  to impose a pattern to redistribute wealth) is
  unjust because it ignores how goods are acquired
  fairly through trade, labor, gifts, etc.