Philosophical Foundations of Ethics and State Power

This document explores the intricate relationship between ethics and politics through the lens of prominent modern philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, Baruch Spinoza, and Immanuel Kant. Their theories offer profound insights into the justification of state power, the origin of morality, and the role of the individual within the political framework.

Thomas Hobbes: The Justification of Absolute Power

Thomas Hobbes's justification in Leviathan has not only political but also moral components. Morality is generated by the same covenant that forms the basis for political power. Absolute political power and morality are designed to serve the individual. The state is conceived as a separate individual, and the sovereign state emerges as the sole source of law, morality, and religion. Hobbes emphasizes that the need for deductive rational calculation, as the foundation for the state, is based on two primary reasons:

• Natural or Biological Equality of Human Beings: Nature makes human beings equal to one another in relation to their bodies and faculties.
• Scarcity of Goods: All human beings desire to acquire assets to meet their needs.

Baruch Spinoza: Contractualism and Political Limits

The politicization of Spinoza's ideas is developed and displayed in his two political treatises. His political thought ultimately derives from his metaphysical philosophy. He invokes the necessity of government and social organization. It is important to examine some aspects of Spinoza's ethics and their relationship to democratic government. Politics is a collective enterprise, while morality is individual, rooted in the subjectivity of each person. Spinoza adopts a contractualist justification for the state. The natural state is one of loneliness, misery, and lawlessness. The origin of the political state is a covenant or agreement in which a multitude resigns its natural rights and transfers power, by a majority, to a sovereign. The politicization of Spinoza's concept of power has its limits. Natural rights are not entirely relinquished but are exercised within the political state. Political power has an ethical outer boundary. The role of government does not possess its own inherent ethical order, but rather facilitates the conditions for individual flourishing.

Immanuel Kant: Morality, Freedom, and the State

In Kant's theory, morality is intrinsically related to freedom. Morality and freedom are intertwined to the extent that justifying morality demonstrates the reality of freedom. In practical application, reason draws a clear line between duty and desire, between morality and self-interest. Moral norms aim to free human beings. Practical reason underlies ethics. The ultimate end of morality is the highest good, which combines virtue and happiness. Moral autonomy means that every human being not only can but does discover the moral law within themselves through reason. Freedom is the foundation of both morality and law. Moral knowledge encompasses understanding the moral order. The moral law obliges both individuals and states, establishing a framework for political ethics that applies to the individual. A universal civil society where justice prevails is the ideal political aim. The role of government is to ensure that human nature unfolds as it should.