Is_Government_a_Socail_Contract

PSC100 09-28-2010 Essay #2 Is Government a Social Contract' Throughout the past decades of the human race, philosophers who have came before, have provided us with great factual opinions and views that satisfy the question, why government' Thomas Hobbes a great philosopher believes government was created by man to protect the individual from the “state of nature”. State of nature was created and defined by Thomas Hobbes as the three things mankind will posses if government didn’t exist. These three things are perfect equality, perfect rights, and perfect freedom. Perfect equality meaning every man is equal in an unusual sense in comparison to the common preconceived notions of equality. Basically it means, man is equal in relation to their ability to take each other’s life. Hobbes describes perfect rights as our natural rights we are born with and perfect freedom is self explanatory, we are all born free. In relations to Hobbes’s state of nature, how is government put into place' Is government the result of a type of social contract in which we have agreed to relinquish some of our rights to form a state and leave the state of nature' No, government is not the result of a type of social contract, in which we have agreed to relinquish some our rights to form a state and leave the state of nature because government is not an option, it is mandatory and we couldn’t cease governmental control even if desired. Lord of the Flies, a 1963 film that depicts a group of kids who are stranded on an island, illustrates this and will be used in comparison. Firstly, governments have been in effect for almost as long as there has been an existence of mankind. Government is not an option, it is mandatory. We the people are born under governmental control and therefore have grown accustom to living a lifestyle in which there is always a higher power to tell us what we can and cannot do. As a result government is like second nature because even if we lived in a state of nature, we will ultimately subconsciously result to this non-existence social contract. In the film, Lord of the Flies, a plane crash leave a group of young boys stranded on an island without adult authority. As a result of having to take care of themselves the boys all agreed that the protagonist of the movie, Ralph should be in charge and make the decisions. This illustrates that since we are born under a government and are accustom to the life, we will form some type of government even if state of nature presents an opportunity. Therefore, this is not a social contract, it is just merely demanded that we have governmental control. As a result we have to adapt, which becomes a way of life for the human race. In addition, government is not a social contract because the people living under government control couldn’t cease it even if they desired. As explained in the previous chapter government is not an option, it is mandatory. In a contract, a person is obligated to void the contract if it no longer protects them. Therefore, there is no such social contract because even if the contract no longer protects them, it cannot be voided. In comparison to the movie, Lord of the Flies where there was indeed a social contract created by the young boys, the antagonist of the movie, Jack opposed this social contract and decided to live a state of nature lifestyle. In addition, state of nature ultimately overpowered the government that the boys created because there was no authority to keep order. The boys had rules under Ralph’s control and that’s what kept order on the island. In comparison to modern day, government has laws in place to retain order and unlike the film, government have strong authority and consequences if you break those laws. In conclusion, although government was created to provide peace and order amongst people living in the state of nature, it is not a social contract in which we agreed apron because government has always been mandatory, in which we have no authority to cease what is permanent and here to stay. Lord of the Flies which was made in a Thomas Hobbes perspective projects, what would happen if there was no authority to separate living under government control or in the state of nature. It also shows the difference between agreeing to a social contract and disagreeing to a social contract. You can’t agree to a social contract that was placed apron u without consent.