For Hobbes, the need for absolute authority in the form of a ruler stemmed from the extreme brutality of the state of nature. The state of nature was completely unbearable, and therefore rational people were willing to submit even to absolute authority in order to escape it. For John Locke, 1632-1704, the state of nature is a very different place, and therefore his arguments regarding the social contract and the nature of man`s relationship with authority are therefore very different. While Locke uses Hobbes` methodical means of the state of nature, as virtually all social contract theorists do, he uses it for a very different purpose. Locke`s arguments in favor of the social contract and the right of citizens to revolt against their king had a huge influence on subsequent democratic revolutions, especially on Thomas Jefferson and the founders of the United States. The central assertion that social contract theory is approaching is that law and political order are not natural, but human creations. The social contract and the political order it creates are only the means to an end – the benefit of the individuals involved – and are legitimate only to the extent that they fulfill their part of the agreement. Hobbes argued that the government is not a party to the original treaty and that citizens are not obliged to submit to the government if it is too weak to act effectively to suppress factionism and civil unrest. According to other social contract theorists, if the government does not guarantee their natural rights (locke) or satisfy the best interests of society (called “general will” by Rousseau), citizens can withdraw their duty of obedience or change direction through elections or other means, including, if necessary, violence. Locke believed that natural rights were inalienable and that, therefore, God`s rule replaced governmental authority, while Rousseau believed that democracy (self-government) was the best way to ensure prosperity while maintaining individual freedom under the rule of law.

Locke`s concept of social contract was cited in the United States Declaration of Independence. Social contract theories were eclipsed in favor of utilitarianism, Hegelianism, and Marxism in the 19th century; they were built in the 20th century. ==References=====External links===* Official website [5] Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher and scientist, was one of the key figures in the political debates of the Enlightenment. He introduced a theory of the social contract based on the relationship between the absolute sovereign and civil society. Relying on a discussion in John Locke`s Second Treatise on Government, Montesquieu argues that the executive, legislative, and judicial functions of government (the so-called tripartite system) should be assigned to different organs, so that attempts by one branch of government to violate political freedom could be restricted by the other branches (checks and balances). Montesquieu based this model on the Constitution of the Roman Republic and the British constitutional system. He was of the opinion that the Roman Republic had separate powers, so no one could usurp full power. In the British constitutional system, Montesquieu recognized a separation of powers between the monarch, parliament and the courts. It also notes that freedom cannot be guaranteed where there is no separation of powers, not even in a republic.

Montesquieu also hears what modern jurists might call the right to a “robust procedural process,” including the right to a fair trial, the presumption of innocence, and the proportionality of the severity of the sentence. In accordance with this demand to make civil and criminal laws appropriate to guarantee political freedom, Montesquieu also advocated against slavery and for freedom of thought, expression and assembly. Given that the end of the “unification of people in the common good” (para. 124) is the preservation of their wealth and the preservation of their life, liberty and well-being in general, Locke can easily imagine the conditions under which the pact with the government is destroyed and people have the right to rely on the authority of a civilian government, like a king. When the executive power of a government turns into tyranny, for example by the dissolution of the legislature and thus the denial of the people`s ability to legislate for its own preservation, then the resulting tyrant puts himself in a state of nature and, in particular, in a state of war with the people, and they then have the same right to self-defence, as they had done before a pact to found the company. In other words, the justification for the authority of the executive component of government is the protection of the property and well-being of the people, so that when this protection no longer exists, or when the king becomes a tyrant and acts against the interests of the people, they have the right, if not a complete obligation, to oppose their authority. The social pact can be dissolved and the process of creating a political society can be revived. In the first Platonic dialogue, Crito, Socrates convincingly explains why he must remain in prison and accept the death penalty instead of fleeing and going into exile in another Greek city.

He embodies the laws of Athens and declares that with their voice he has acquired an overwhelming obligation to obey the laws because they have made possible his entire way of life and even the fact of his very existence. They allowed his mother and father to marry and thus have legitimate children, including himself. After the birth of the city of Athens, his laws required his father to take care of him and educate him. Socrates` life and how that life flourished in Athens depend on the laws. However, it is important that this relationship between citizens and the laws of the city is not enforced. Citizens, when they are adults and have seen how the city behaves, can choose to leave, take their property with them or stay. Staying implies an agreement to comply with the law and accept the sanctions they impose. And after concluding an agreement that is himself just, Socrates claims that he must respect this agreement he has concluded and obey the laws, in this case by suspending and accepting the death penalty. It is important to note that the treaty described by Socrates is implicit: it is implicit by his decision to stay in Athens, although he is free to leave. In 1690 Locke published his Two Treatises on Government. He generally agreed with Hobbes about the brutality of the state of nature, which required a social contract to ensure peace.

But he disagreed with Hobbes on two important points. According to the theory of the will of the contract, a contract is not considered valid unless all parties voluntarily, tacitly or expressly accept it without coercion. Lysander Spooner, a 19th century lawyer. A staunch defender of contract law between individuals, he argued in his essay No Treason that a so-called social contract cannot be used to justify state measures such as taxation because the government will incite violence against anyone who does not want to enter into such a contract. .