Essays on Natural State

The concept of the natural state of man is discussed in detail by both Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe in their books Gulliver’s Travels and Robinson Crusoe respectively. While Swift takes the reader through his opinion of the natural state of man by describing the journey of Gulliver, Defoe does this through an evaluation of the life of Crusoe. However, despite appearing to focus on the same topic, the two hold divergent views on the same. Defoe appears to make a more compelling argument as compared to Swift in Gulliver’s travel because he appears to be more ...

Francisco de Vitoria: On the American Indians

First Level Analysis Francisco de Vitoria was a theologian who wrote during the time of the Spanish conquest of the Americas. In his political treatise entitled On The American Indians, he suggests the Spanish should question by what right they have subjected the “barbarians” to their rule. Indeed, de Vitoria is immensely focused on investigating the political power of the Spanish in the New World, and in this particular passage, he determines that the barbarians that the Spanish have conquered in the New World should not be ruled under the dominion of the Spanish. He likens these people to ...

Hoff praises Pooh as the epitome of the Uncarved Block, a state of being in one’s most natural state, or simplicity. An individual is able to appreciate life and bring out one’s own natural power more while in this state; simply because one is not contaminated by knowledge which Hoff argues only seeks to confuse people. Hoff also ridicules scholars who seek to find answers to principles that disrupt the natural order of things. This disruption has caused more questions instead, and has further digressed people away from the right way. Hoff argues that scholars only seek ...

Right and Responsibilities of Citizens and the Modern Western Civilization

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is arguably one of the most inspiring philosophers in his time who development thoughts on classical philosophy. Rousseau argued on the intricate relationship between the state and the individual. He observed that the state as an entity wields a lot of power than an individual. Because of this authority, the state has the ability to force, command and direct an individual to perform certain duties and responsibilities. The state can determine the type of life that an individual should live as well as the things that an individual can do or avoid. The entrenchment of the state ...

Abstract

This essay analyses Rousseau’s view of freedom while providing a linkage between this particular conception of freedom and the distinction between positive and negative freedom as advanced by Isaiah Berlin. The strengths and weaknesses of Rousseau’s view of freedom are then critically analyzed. Negative freedom is the total absence of barriers, constraints and obstacles. Berlin argued that negative freedom is usually directed towards individuals. He stated a person is not a slave of the other and everyone has the liberty to do what they wishes to do. The law or even social pressure does not prevent individuals ...

Social contract theory addresses political obligations and agreement among people to form the perfect society. Nowadays, the concept "social contract" is the main object of research for most experts in various areas of knowledge. These are philosophers and political scientists, lawyers and economists. However, it should be noted that the theory of social contract has the old history. It is possible to claim that it becomes a subject of discussion at the time of antiquity. There is a point of view that moral and political duties of people depend on the agreement between them for the purpose of development ...

In modern times, the theory of natural rights and social contract had finally become exempt from its previous theological justification. At the same time it became the basis for a rational understanding of the society and the state. The adoption of social contract theory in legal thought creates an opportunity for the different political concepts to be revealed – in favor of the monarchy and against it (in favor of the society). Hugo Grotius, a prominent representative of the school of natural law in early modern times shared its general theory of the origin of the state contract. Grotius and Hobbes stood ...

1. Where do you find that Machiavelli and Hobbes coincide, and where do you find that they differ, in their accounts of human nature?

Hobbes’ and Machiavelli’s views often overlap on their understanding of human nature. One relevant fact to that is this essay questions inquires about the differences of the two thinkers. Both of them had views of human nature that agreed on some points but disagreed on others. Hobbes had one many characterize as a negative view on human nature, that the natural state of affairs for a person is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” In comparison, Machiavelli was perhaps advocating for such an individual in order to ursurp political power.

Hobbe’s Leviathan is named after a sea monster in ...

Whately, Thomas. The Regulations Lately Made (1765), in CAPCT, Vol. 1, pp. 166-170

Thomas Whately was an English politician as well as renowned writer, and is remembered for publishing a letter on the reasonable nature of the Stamp Act, which had been imposed by the British government on its colonies, of which America was one at the time. The Stamp Act required that printed materials in all of its colonies had to be produced on stamped paper that was made in London and had the valid embossed revenue stamp (Greene, 12). It was essentially a direct tax imposed upon the American ...

- Locke states: “The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.” Explain the “law of nature” that Locke cites. (p. 637).

When Locke states that nature has a law to govern it (Locke, 637), he is referring to natural law. This law comes from nature. Under Locke’s observation things in natural, left to be how they were ...

According to Hobbes, the emergence of state is preceded by the so-called natural state, a state of absolute, unrestricted freedom of people who are equal in their rights and abilities. People are equal to each other in their desire to dominate and to have the same rights. Therefore, the natural state for Hobbes is in the «state of war of all against all." The absolute freedom of the individual finds its way in the desire for anarchy, chaos, continuous struggle, in which the killing of man by another man is justified. (Gaskin, 1998) The way out of this situation is ...

Equality is one of the most prevalent themes among the theories developed by intellectuals in society. Even though different theories present various types of discourses regarding the varying degrees of fairness and equality, the political thought during the time of Rousseau and John Locke critically analyzed the concept of equality and inequality in society and emphasized the importance of the individual in thinking. They considered the disposition of humans through the lens of individualism rather than examining the group as a whole. The result was these intellectuals were able to spot a certain extent of secularization in the contemporary train of ...

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are two English philosophers of the 17th century, who explored the nature of political processes such as the emergence of states and the subordination of the individual or society to political power. Although they used the same philosophical and scientific instruments and share categorical apparatus, their conclusions are quite different to each other. The fact that their ideas influence the political process in England at that time indicates the historical importance of their ideas. The fact that these ideas have been adopted by different political groups indicates a significant difference in the estimates. Hobbes and ...

Plato looks at pleasure as a source of delight and sensual enjoyment. In his work ‘Gorgias’, Plato talks of Socrates, and makes him relay his views. His concept is that things are termed beautiful based on the pleasure derived from them or their use. In the same way, the lack of pleasure from an item determines its lack of beauty. Plato classifies pleasure into two categories. There are those pleasures that lead to good ends, and there are those pleasures that are purposed only for fulfilling desires. Therefore, there are good pleasures and bad pleasures. Plato holds that the methods, ...

Locke, like Hobbes, considers the individual as the basic element and treats the state as a result of the social contract between individuals, concluded in order to stop natural condition. The teaching about the natural state does not act as a theory about the appearance of the state, about how it really occurred, but it is a theory that explains what the state is, and thus legitimizes the state. However, Locke has a more moderate version of the notion of the individual and the state than Hobbes. Hobbes thought that since people have the same rights and seek to implement them, between ...

According to Thomas Hobbes, man existed several centuries ago even before the social contract came to pass. There was a chaotic kind of life where there was no administration and government in place. Hobbes lived during a period of intense war in England between 1642 and 1648. During that period, there were two factions involved in the war. On one, hand, there were the kings together with their supporters who were demanding a monarch kind of governance. On the other hand, there were the parliamentarians under the leadership of Olivier Cromwell. The parliamentarians’ demanded absolute power of the parliament. Hobbes rejected the ...

The relationship between nature, the state and individuals is a complex one; political philosophers have been studying these relationships ever since the dawn of time, with the goal being to determine the best way in which the people relate to nature. Based on the ideas of philosopher John Locke, the state does not have the ability to infringe upon the right of people to determine their own destiny; he believes that mankind’s best state is to bring the best parts of their natural instincts into society, collecting together into a “state of perfect freedom.” Conversely, philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that ...

Philosophy 334 Summer Essays

Engineers may design products in a laboratory, office or workshop. In these cases it might be one engineer working solo or a team of engineers working in tandem. They could be designing a coffee machine, or even a highway that will carry millions of people annually from place or another. When people imagine what engineers do all day, many picture someone in an office with a pencil in hand pouring over equations and sketches. While this may be true that this is where many engineering begins, it is not where it ends. Because whether or not an engineer is designing a coffee machine or a highway ...

In his “Discourse on Inequality” Rousseau addresses the psychological and political effects of property ownership on human nature and society. He criticizes the inequity of modern institutions and traces their origins back showing how the evolution of humankind established the relationship between property, society and inequality. Originally written in 1754 as an entry for a competition run by the Dijon Academy of Arts and Sciences it established him as an important philosopher. The original question was “What is the origin of inequality among men, and is it authorized by the natural law?” Although his first discourse won the competition in ...