Abstract This paper explains that, in his essay "Of the Original Contract", David Hume affirmed that the sovereign power of the government emanated from the people themselves; thus, the people have the power to resist the sovereign power of the government whenever the government fails to do its intended job. The author points out that, in general, contractarianism is an agreement between the society and the people in power for the purpose of maintaining peace and order. The paper relates that Hume focused not on the power of the individual, but on the power of these individuals as group or community. The author also notes Hume's belief that, without a society, there is no government but there can still be a society even without a government.
Table of Contents:
Contractarianism and its Forms
Hume on the Variants of Contractarianism Hume in his own Refutations
Modernity and Civil Society
From the Paper "One will also notice that as to compare with other contractarians, given the situation, David Hume justified the resistance and disobedience on the part of the people from the sovereign government. It is also noticeable that his concept of contract is far less individualistic and statist. I believe so because Hume focused not on the power of the individual but on the power of these individuals as group or community. I believe this subject, the power of the community, is the consent of the people rendered and given to the government."
Tags:contractarianism, refutations, statist, society, people
Abstract This paper reviews and discusses and compares utilitarianism, libertarianism and contractarianism. According to the paper, John Mills is known as the father of utilitarianism and John Rawl defines the theory of contractarianism.
From the Paper "Utilitarians might beg to differ with this statement since what they would suggest is that individuals have the responsibility to do what is best for the most amount of people. Utilitarianism could be described as an effort to provide an answer to the practical questions "What ought a man to do?" According to utilitarian theory the answer to that question would be that man ought to act so as to produce the best consequences possible. Using the utilitarian approach, and individual must first analyze the issue by identifying the different courses of action that are available, and after such analyzing decide on the course that would be most beneficial for the largest number of people."
This paper explains the terms contractarinism and neo-Intuitionism and gives an overview of their positive and negative characteristics with regards to ethics.
Abstract Contractarianism is a form of social contract, one which nonetheless is a tacit one. The writer looks into this term and follows with a comparison to neo-Intuitionism. In the end we see that the bottom line for the compatibility of intuition with ethics rests upon the condition that, while intuitions can be useful, they must never be our final arbiters.
From the Paper "If we expect from others only that they not interfere with our activities"save if those activities threaten to harm them"then we can say that they are honouring our negative right to liberty. A negative right amounts to being a right to non-interference; that is, that people not do certain things. Positive rights, on the other hand, require that we do something for, or provide something to others. In a sense, however, positive rights include negative rights, since positive rights are simply added on. A note of caution though: the more positive rights which are added?and this is why the earlier qualification "in a sense"?the greater the chances that negative rights will be usurped."
Abstract Explores the question of the legitimacy of the United States government using Locke's political philosophy of Contractarianism and his Principle of Legitimacy. This explanation includes a definition and a discussion of the purpose of government, Locke's Principle of Legitimacy, the idea of consent and why consent leads to a legitimate government.
From the Paper "In order to discuss why a government is a legitimate one, the definition of government must first be established. A dictionary definition of the word government reads as: "The organization or apparatus through which a governing individual or body functions and exercises authority". The United States government fits this definition simply by having authority and exercising it over a group of people through being an official organization. The government of the United States was set up and laid out by the Constitution for the intention of ruling and benefiting it's citizens. In the specific example of the United States a governing individual does not rule, but a governing body with an official head rules. The three branches of the government, executive, legislative, and judicial, serve as an organization through which authority is exercised. Government, according to Locke, also has a specific purpose. The purpose of Locke's legitimate government is ?to protect property, which means it must supply the three things that are absent in the state of nature: settled law, judges, and enforcement power. "
Abstract The paper explains that Charles Mills's critique of the racial contract suggests that non-white people have been oppressed because of limitations put upon them by whites looking to ensure and maintain an unjust and unequal treatment and categorizing of anyone who is not white. The author points out that gender and class have also determined hierarchical relationships, but race is the identity that has been most important in determining vulnerability to exploitation. The paper relates that the racial contract sets the parameters for white morality as a whole, so that competing Lockean and Kantian contractarian theories of natural rights and duties, or later anticontractarian theories, such as 19th-century utilitarianism, are all limited by its stipulations.
From the Paper "Charles Mills? views the historic "Racial Contract" as a set of agreements between whites to categorize non-whites as sub persons of inferior moral and legal status than that of whites. This contract gives whites the right to exploit non-whites and deny them the opportunities provided to whites as well as portrays non-whites as designated to serve whites. Mills believes that for most of the modern era, whites have has as little obligation to recognize the rights of non-whites as they have had to recognize the rights of non-humans."
Abstract This paper argues the concept of distributive justice, the belief that it is within the government's purview to manage the wealth of society and redistribute it when moral and necessary so that everyone in the society may enjoy the benefit of equal opportunity. It looks at how the system, the brainchild of Harvard Professor John Rawls, has been widely implemented and how it has received praise and criticism for its treatment of government, civil society and human rights. Rawls sees distributive justice as being a result of social, political and contractarian arrangements in the context of several different systems of political thought which all value freedom of thought and the ability of all members of society to partake in public life.
From the Paper "A comprehensive doctrine is an ideology or political methodology that is self-contained, has its own metaphysical principles and draws conclusions from its own premises. For example, Muslim fundamentalism accepts as a given that there is no God but Allah, and that Mohammed is his prophet. Similarly, the Austrian School of Economics, the basis for modern libertarianism, is based on the praxiological premises of Ludwig Von Mises that hold that all members of a society are independent and rational actors who seek to meet their individual ends via the context of civil society."
Abstract The paper discusses Cesare Beccaria's argument against any justification of capital punishment from the perspectives of utilitarianism and contractarianism. The paper looks at Beccaria's thesis that all punishment must be swift and serve the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people. The paper also explains Beccaria's ideas on the principle of proportionality and capital punishment's deterrence value.
From the Paper "Beccaria's utilitarian theory prescribes that crimes must be prevented in an economical way that results in the greatest reduction of pain and the greatest maximization of happiness for the greatest number of people. Based on this theory, punishments should be proportionate to the crime, and use the least amount of pain necessary to deter potential offenders. The problem with this theory is that a punishment inflicted upon an innocent person will be just as effective on the people as would a punishment inflicted upon a guilty person. Thus there is a need for the "retributive argument and the contractarian concern with individual rights" (Bellamy, 1997, p. 24)."
