Hobbes and Rousseau: Natural Law, Sovereignty, and the Social Contract

Hobbes and Rousseau: A Comparison

Hobbes: Human Nature and the Philosophy of Power

According to Hobbes, human nature is composed of two elements that determine political problems:

1. Natural Equality of Men: All men are created equal.
2. Scarcity of Goods: Men crave goods due to their needs, leading to competition.

Language is crucial for civil society and the state. Without language, there would be no state, civil society, peace agreements, or distinction from animals. Language makes man a citizen, highlighting his rationality. Reason remains constant in its purposes and means.

Analysis of Power

Hobbes opposes the optimistic view of natural law theorists who believe in man's natural inclination to sociability. The first law of nature leads to conflict due to the equal strength of individuals. The second law involves a social pact or contract to establish the state and civil society. Individuals resign and transfer rights for the safety of their person, life, and property.

Reason dictates that individual benefit must be subordinate to a common power. Sovereignty is founded on a contract between individuals who choose a sovereign. This contract does not limit sovereignty; it establishes it.

Branches of Government

The State is a person granted power. This power must be absolute and undivided. The contract is the foundation and justification of the State. If the state fails to guarantee security (its primary reason for existence), it loses its purpose. Therefore, obedience must be enforced upon all members.

Hobbes recognizes divine and natural law. For the individual, inner freedom of thought and religious faith remain. Natural law, also divine law, dictates obedience to the state and belief in its pronouncements.

Limits of Sovereignty

The sovereign's power has no external limits. It is reasonable to assume that the sovereign will pursue the interests of their people, as these interests coincide with their own. The utility of the sovereign and the good of the people are inseparable.

Individualism and Utilitarianism

Hobbes's absolutism is based on utilitarian considerations, justifying it with utilitarian arguments. The individual's right to self-preservation forms the basis of absolutism. In the authoritarian state, the individual finds interest, happiness, pleasure, and welfare.

Rousseau: The Social Contract

Rousseau argues that the sum of forces can only come from many separate entities. However, since the strength and freedom of each individual are essential for preservation, how can these be engaged without harm? This problem can be expressed as:

"Finding an association able to defend and protect with the whole common force the person and property of each of the partners, but so that each one of these, together with all obey only himself and remains as free as before."

This is the fundamental problem, whose solution lies in the Social Contract.