Exotic Journeys: A Tourist's Guide to Philosophy

brought to you by Ron Yezzi

Emeritus Professor of Philosophy

Minnesota State University, Mankato

© Copyright 1986, 2015, 2020 by Ron Yezzi

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Author's Note: This account is adapted from Ron Yezzi, Directing Human Actions: Perspectives on Basic Ethical Issues (Lanham: University Press of America, 1986) pp.189 - 210.

Topics

Thomas Hobbes

Sovereign Power

Allegiance to the Sovereign

Liberties of Subjects

Warning about Measures that Weaken Sovereign Power

Preference for Monarchy

Rousseau

Rejection of Hobbes' Commonwealth

The Social Contract and The General Will

Freedom and The General Will

Distinction Between Sovereignty and Government

Preservation of The General Will and Sovereignty

Hobbes and Rousseau: A Comparison

Controversies: Some Objections and Possible Replies

Thought Excursions

Hobbes, Rousseau, and Censorship

Sources

Individuals and Society:

Hobbes and Rousseau

In contrast with Plato and Aristotle, both Thomas Hobbes and Jean Jacques Rousseau assert that individual human beings possess natural, unalienable rights; they envision a form of social organization based upon a social contract among individuals that does not trample upon these natural rights. They disagree, however, as to the nature of this social contract and advocate different conceptions of the state.

Thomas Hobbes