Hobbes Social Contract Theory in English ?

  

Hobbes Social Contract Theory?

What is Hobbes social contract theory?

What is Hobbes social contract theory in English?

Thomas   Hobbes was born in 1588 in Westport (England). The events happening in his life had the greatest impact on him. Civil war had started in England when he was young. The biggest impact on him was the war of England. He composed the book Leviathan in 1651. In which he described the social contract theory. At that time there were conflicts between the king and the parliament in England. Due to which anarchy was spread at that time. All these reasons put the disgusting side of man in front of him.

Human nature –  Hobbes was mostly inspired  by   the events that happened in  his life  . At that time civil war was going on in England, which had a great influence on the mind of Hobbes . Therefore, Hobbes considered man under his human nature.   Was described as selfish, arrogant and angry, violent. He believed that man is bad by nature. He is ready to do anything in his defense, whether it is in line with morality or against it. When a man is benefited through others, he likes to be with other people, but when he is not benefited, he leaves the company of other people. Hobbes has also called man violent. He believed that man himself has been violent and war-destructive by nature. Whenever he gets an opportunity to do so, he does not miss taking advantage of it. Thus Hobbes describes the evil nature of man.

Natural State-  According to Hobbes, only two rights are available to a person in the natural state – first, the right to protect his life, second – the right to do anything to protect his life. In this state, a person can kill any other person in the name of protecting his life and can also grab other people's property to increase his life. Being bad by human nature, he does not hesitate to harm another person. Every person starts fighting with other person and does not trust each other. Life has no value in this state, anyone can kill anyone. This stage is based on “Power is Truth”. In other words, it would not be wrong to say that this state is a jungle raj. According to Hobbes, there will also be some rational people in this stage who will be peace-loving.

Reason for agreement –   ​​As  stated by Hobbes, the position of the state of nature was based on the principle that force is true. Therefore, people were always worried about the loss of their lives and property. So the people collectively decided to form a political community i.e. the state. So that people can secure their life and property, and the state can protect them.

Settlement-   Due to the extreme harshness of life in the natural state, people decided to abandon this state. Life in this natural state had no purpose. The only thing to do was to live life just one day at a time. Leaving this stage, people decided to establish a new institution. Under this, they entered into an agreement in which “each person mutually says to the other that I hand over my rights and power to this assembly or state, so that it may rule over us and protect our lives, and in the same way other people also give their rights. And prohibit the duties in the same amount. In this way, Thomas Hobbes calls this agreement made by people as social agreement.

Rise of new state  Hobbes imagines a new state after discarding the old state. In which the governance will now be by the state and in this state the life of the people will be guaranteed. In this state, there will not be anarchy and jungle raj as in the natural state, but all the people will be bound by certain rules. Hobbes has given the authority of these people to a demon or superman called Leviathan who is omnipotent. Seeing it shows that it is a sovereign state or assembly that no one can challenge. According to Hobbes, the first objective of this state is to protect the life and property of the people. The ruler of this state or the ruler named Leviathan has all kinds of rights. Even the individual cannot oppose this ruler. Because if the person opposes it, it would mean that the person is opposing the agreement made by himself. If this compact, the Leviathan, is destroyed, Then man will again reach the natural state. So Hobbes does not give anyone the right to oppose Leviathan.  All the opulence and autocracy of this  ruler shows that this state created by Hobbes  is a monarchical state.

Features of Hobbes' Social Contract Theory:

1) Its first feature is that the agreement is social and not official. In administrative agreement, there is an agreement between the ruler and the ruled, but Hobbes' agreement is not between the king and the subjects, but between different persons. The parties to the agreement are the persons who, by entering into an agreement with each other, create the sovereign (ruler). Hence, the condition of agreement does not apply to the ruler.

2) The ruler is not included as any party to the agreement, therefore he is not responsible to anyone for whatever he does and he is completely autocratic.

3) The objects for which the agreement is made are deemed to be part of the agreement. This means that as long as they are being met, the agreement will continue.

4) It is based on the fear of man. It is the fear of death arising out of violence that compels man to enter into this agreement.

5) The ruler is the supreme legislator. His orders are rules and regulations.

6) Individuals living alone in natural state have built society through this agreement, hence it is a social agreement.

7) Disobedience by the subjects for whatever reason is unjust, because it is contrary to a suitable agreement merging their personal will with the will of the Lord.

8) By agreement the different conflicting wills are replaced by a representative will. In this way, a collective power comes in the hands of the ruler. He is an artificial person. Since he inherits the natural rights of each person entering into the agreement, he is the representative of each person.

Criticism of Hobbes' Social Contract Theory:

Critics have strongly opposed Hobbes' social contract theory. The theory of Hobbes is criticized on the basis of the following arguments –

1) Faulty depiction of human nature:  Hobbes has presented a flawed, isolated and pessimistic view of human nature. He describes man as extremely selfish, deceitful and cruel, while human qualities like sympathy, generosity, kindness, charity and love are also found in him. Hobbes completely forgets them, he only emphasizes their bestial tendencies. Political principles cannot be built on the basis of such a one-sided approach.

2) Natural state unnatural:  Hobbes's natural state is false, unnatural and unhistorical. In natural condition, man used to live alone and in such a condition, in which there was an empire of murder, violence, treachery, but after compromise, he became social and started living in a peaceful society. How there was a sudden change in his attitude in such a way that he converted chaos and disorder into auspicious order. In a single moment, how the man living in the natural state left the life of struggle and adopted the method of co-operative life.

3) Recognition of natural rights in natural condition is inconsistent:  Describing the natural condition, Hobbes has also propounded that a person also gets some rights in it, whose form is natural. It is illogical to say that a person can have any rights in an anarchic natural state.

4) Irrational:  Hobbes has this delusional belief that man lives alone in primitive society. Hobbes was not aware that there was never a lack of elements of social life in man. The historical fact is that individuals have never lived alone as such, they have lived in societies of some kind or the other.

5) Support of Autocracy:  There is no control of any kind on the regime established by Hobbes and it is completely autocratic. There is no control of the law on him, nor is there any control of the fundamental rights of the person. In fact, Hobbes, through his theory of compromise, has completely nullified man's rights and enslaved him to Leviathan. In this the condition of human beings is likened to that of a herd of cattle driven by a shepherd in the form of Leviathan.

Significance:

Although Hobbes' social contract theory has been severely criticized, yet this theory has its own importance. By propounding the theory of social contract, Hobbes has propounded the truth that the state is neither a divine institution created by God nor the result of any natural development, but it is the first such man-made institution, which is accepted by the individual for his certain rights. Built to meet the requirements. Therefore, the state is only a means to achieve this objective, not an end in itself. Hobbes's thinking is considered scientific, because he has given a realistic depiction of human nature. He has molded his theory only on the analysis of human nature.