What did Thomas Hobbes believe about the social contract?

Answer 1

Thomas Hobbes envisioned that the origin of the social contract was a protection from the state of nature, which occurred when no government or social organisation existed between human beings. In this state, no one had any rights nor protection from coercion (the use of force), which was the chief determiner of outcomes. To avoid the conflict and destruction Hobbes viewed as inherently part of this state, a social contract would be reached where individuals some of their rights in order to live under the protection of a sovereign. This sovereign, by maintaining the state of nature, would have the right to control his contractees and use force against his enemies. Hobbes thought this was an improvement on the state of nature, except that sovereigns would never truly escape that state.

Answer 2

Thomas hobbes believed that it was human nature to be greedy and that we were to follow to rules given to us by our higher powers. He did not believe in the rights given to us from the idea of the social contract.

Answer 3

Thomas Hobbes argued that people make social contracts, i.e., create laws and governments, because they recognize that an orderly and stable society is preferable to one in the "state of nature." As Hobbes conceived of it, the state of nature was a state in which all people are constantly at war with one another, owing to the flaws of human nature and the absence of any authority figures.

Thus, according to Hobbes, people elect to sign the social contract out of fear. They fear theft, instability, violence, etc., and so they come together in an effort to safeguard themselves from the brutal, unhappy reality that is the natural condition of mankind.

Answer 4

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