Hobbes and Locke Social Contract Theory Essay Example for Free

Hobbes and Locke Social Contract Theory Essay Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are two of the most influential political philosophers of the modern age. Their ideas on political philosophy, among other ideas, have helped shaped the Western World, as we know it. One of the most important theories that the two have both discussed, and written in detail on, is the idea of the social contract. Social Contract Theory is the view that moral and/or political duties depend on a contract that leads to the formation of a civil society. Thomas Hobbes was the first person to come up with the idea of a social contract in his text, Leviathan. As with any concept in history, other political philosophers have used Hobbes’ theory as a stepping-stone. One of those men is John Locke, who presents a very different account of how it is civil society is formed. Although both men have very different accounts on the social contract notion, there are some similarities between the two. Before putting pen to paper Hobbes had a front row seat to a quintessential moment in early English history—the English Civil War. The war was a dispute between King Charles I and his followers, the Monarchists and the Parliamentarians. The Monarchists preferred the traditional authority of the king, while the Parliamentarians demanded more power for Parliament, England’s quasi-democratic institution. Hobbes is somewhere in between the two groups with his own set of views. Hobbes believed that political authority is based on the self-interest of the members of the society, all of who are considered equal. He argued that no single individual had the power to rule over the rest. He also backed the conservative point of view that the sovereign must have absolute authority in order for society to last without disruption. It is in the rejection of the Monarchist point of view, that Hobbes and Locke find their first similarity. Both authors sought out to refute the positions presented by Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha, regarding the issue of the Divine Right of Kings. Filmer believed that God gave absolute authority to the king. Since God gives the power to the king, political society focused on obeying God unconditionally. Although Hobbes did agree that it was necessary for a king to have absolute authority in order to keep the people in line, he believed that authority came from the people living in the community and not God. Locke’s most influential political writings come from his Two Treatises On Government. His First Treatise is focused almost entirely on rejecting Filmer’s theory. Locke is in line with Hobbes in his belief that political authority comes from the consent of the governed. Along with this similarity, both men also agree on the idea that those people in a State of Nature will willingly consent to coming together to form a political society. They also agree on the belief that people would live in fear of each other regardless of their ability to use reason. Human nature allows men to be selfish. All people have the natural right to defend their own life, liberty, health and property. This fear is what leads many people to come together and form a state so that there would be a central authority to protect their life, liberty, health and property of all people within society. Along with creating the outline for the social contract theory, Hobbes was also a major contribution to the idea of the State of Nature, a hypothetical situation used to show how people lived before the establishment of society. In the State of Nature, life was â€Å"solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,† characterized by self-interest and the absence of rights and laws (Hobbes 89). Hobbes believed that man was fundamentally evil and required a central authority to keep them out of the conditions of the state of nature. Locke, on the other hand, saw individuals as exercising moral limits over their actions. In order to answer the question of why the people should be willing to submit to political authority, Hobbes uses the idea of a State of Nature. This is a completely hypothetical situation through which he imagines what life was like for men before the establishment of civil society. In the State of Nature, men are naturally and entirely self interested, resources are limited and there is no power that forces the people to follow the rules of society. Men are also considered equal to one another in that even the strongest man can be killed in his sleep. There is no ability for men to ensure the satisfaction of their needs and desires as humans, and no prolonged systems of cooperation among men. The state of nature is a state of constant fear and distrust, or as Hobbes puts it â€Å"a state of perpetual and unavoidable war† (Hobbes 90). Based on the previous definition of the State of Nature, it would seem that mankind is doomed for eternity. However, hope is not lost. Using the power of reason, they are able to understand the laws of nature, which lead man out of the state of nature and into civil society. A Law of Nature, (Lex Naturalis), is a Precept, or generall rule, found out by reason, by which a man is forbidden to do, that, which is destructive of his life, or taketh away the means of preserving the same; and to omit that, by which he thinketh it may be best preserved. (Hobbes 91) The first rule of nature is to seek peace when others are also willing to follow in the quest for peace, â€Å"That every man, ought to endeavour Peace, as farre as he has hope of obtaining it; and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek, and use, all helps, and advantages of Warre† (Hobbes 92). In the pages leading up to the natural laws, Hobbes describes what it is that drives us to seek peace. â€Å"The Passions that encline men to Peace, are Feare of Death; Desire of such things as are necessary to commodious living; and a Hope by their Industry to obtain them† (Hobbes 90). These are the things that lead people out of the state of nature and into forming a political society. People want protection of their bodies, property, and commodious living. It is through reason that men are led to the construction of a Social Contract, allowing for a life better then in the State of Nature. The social contract is formed through the establishment of two other contracts. The first contract is that they must agree to establish society by renouncing the rights that they had in the State of Nature. The second is that they must choose a single person, or an assembly of people, that will have the authority to enforce the various parts of the contract. The sovereign has the power to punish those who violate the social contract, which leads people to adjust themselves to the rules of their society. In order to understand the purpose of the Social Contract, Hobbes sets forth a definition of a commonwealth, or civil society: And in him consisteth the Essence of the Commonwealth; which (to define it,) is One Person, of whose Acts a great Multitude, by mutuall Covenants one with another, have made themselves every one the Author, to the end he may use the strength and means of them all, as he shall think expedient, for their Peace and Common Defence. (Locke 121) Without a common power to exercise force, society would be the same as it was while in the State of Nature. The Social Contract is considered to be the fundamental source within society for all that is good, along with being the force that allows us to live well. On the opposite side of the spectrum is another major figure in political philosophy, Locke. Locke’s views are very different from that of Hobbes, besides the fact that Locke uses the State of Nature concept created by Hobbes. For Locke, the State of Nature is a state of complete and perfect liberty to live the best life possible, while being free from interference from others. We must consider what state all men are naturally in, and that is a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave or depending upon the will of any other man. (Locke 5) In this state of equality no person has any power over any one else—everyone is subjectively equal. â€Å"The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one; and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it that, being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions† (Locke 5). The state of nature is not a state of license, or a state of authority, in that individuals have the ability to do whatever they want. Although this society is pre-government, morals guide the laws of nature. God gives the natural laws to commands and us that we do not harm others, since we are all equal in the eyes of God. For Locke, the State of Nature is more like a state of liberty that allows the people to pursue their own interests free from interference. It is considered a peaceful state because of the natural laws and its restrictions on the people. Hobbes saw the State of Nature as being a state of constant war, a drastic change compared to the views presented by Locke. Although Locke’s state is predominantly peaceful, there is potential for a State of War. According to Locke, the State of War starts between two or more people when one person declares war on the other. This is usually done by stealing something from the other, or trying to make another man a slave. Since there is no central power to mediate the dispute and the laws of nature allow for self-defense, people are allowed to kill anyone that brings force against them. Without a force to mediate, the duration of wars is much longer and more brutal. Political societies form when men come together in the State of Nature, and agree to give up their power to punish those who disobey the laws of nature and give that power to a central authority. It is through this that the people consent to the will of the majority. Through leaving the state of nature and forming a society, the people create a â€Å"one body politic under one government† and are thus subjected to the will of that particular â€Å"body† (Locke 55). The only way for one to become part of society is through our own individual consent, meaning we cannot be forced to join the society. By joining a society, people gain a few things that they lacked in the State of Nature. These aspects consist of laws, a judge to settle disputes regarding laws and most importantly an executive power to enforce the law. The executive power is created for the protection of the people, their property and general well being. It is when this protection is non-existent, or the King becomes a tyrant by acting against the interest of the people, that the contract can be thrown away. It is with this that the process of establishing a social contract can begin once again, and also the power. Both Hobbes and Locke agree on the fact that people living in a state of nature will come together to form a contract amongst themselves, which ultimately leads to the establishment of society. Both Hobbes and Locke also agreed that people living in a state of nature would be living in a constant state of fear of one another before society is established. Hobbes has a much darker view of Human Nature, seeing them as inherently evil, while Locke viewed man as being guided by â€Å"rational self-interest† with the ability to self-govern without the Leviathan watching over you. These two figures have helped shape our modern systems of government among many other things.

This Cruel World :: essays research papers

This Cruel World   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It all began when I was brought into this world. At that age I probably didn’t know much but as a kid I knew every thing was great. Getting pushed around in a stroller all day, to being fed, to being put to bed at nighttime with dozens of stuffed animals around you, what else do you want? Life as a kid was great, I didn’t have any problems to worry about, everything was done for me. Unfortunately that just last so long and all I came to realize is that growing up in this big world is not getting easier.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Society†¦ Society is at its peak waiting for you to come out and play. Look at what kind of world we live in today. One of the biggest countries in the world is at war with other countries overseas. What kind of image does that let out to the public? The United States is fighting its deepest war against the best of these fascists murdering butchers that want power and more power. We live in one of the best liberal countries where we don’t have to worry about anything like education and health care, but now we have to worry about these people terrorizing the whole world. Terrorism and killing people for no absolute reason is just repulsive and I, probably adding millions of others, cannot see myself endure this any longer. My view on terrorism has been amplifies by one million after September 11th. Seeing all these people that got killed and all the families that got destroyed just brings me to the conclusion that these people have no respect, no humani ty, no heart, no nothing. These people are worth crap to me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This crude world makes my worldviews change from time to time. Here are some of my views that I have always had and that never changed: First off, looking upon honesty. I say honesty because being lie to is plain not fun. I don’t even consider people who aren’t honest with me. If a person cannot be truthful that person has not respect. Put it this way, I don’t respect people that don’t respect me. Another important thing that I believe in is chivalry. All men should always be gallant and should always treat that woman with respect. The woman is important because of he ability to bring children to life.

Reliance Life Insurance Project Essay

Many people take to trading in the mistaken belief that it is the simplest way of making money. Far from it, I believe it is the easiest way of losing money. There is an old Wall Street adage, that â€Å"the easiest way of making a small fortune in the markets is having a large fortune†. This game is by no means for the faint hearted. And, this battle is not won or lost during trading hours but before the markets open but through a disciplined approach to trading. 1. A successful trader has a trading plan and does his homework diligently Winning traders diligently maintain charts and keep aside some hours for market analysis. Every evening a winning trader updates his notebook and writes his strategy for the next day. Winning traders have a sense of the market’s main trend. They identify the strongest sectors of the market and then the strongest stocks in those sectors. They know the level they are going to enter at and approximate targets for the anticipated move. For example, I am willing to hold till the market is acting right. Once the market is unable to hold certain levels and breaks crucial supports, I book profits. Again, this depends on the type of market I am dealing with. In a strong up trend, I want the market to throw me out of a profitable trade. In a mild up trend, I am a little more cautious and try to book profits at the first sign of weakness. In a choppy market, not only do I trade the lightest, I book profits while the market is still moving in my direction. Good technical traders do not worry or debate about the news flow; they go by what the market is doing. 2. A successful trader avoids overtrading Overtrading is the single biggest malaise of most traders. A disciplined trader is always ready to trade light when the market turns choppy and even not trade if there are no trades on the horizon. For example, I trade full steam only when I see a trending market and reduce my trading stakes when I am not confident of the expected move. I reduce my trade even more if the market is stuck in a choppy mode with very small swings. A disciplined trader knows when to build positions and step on the gas and when to trade light and he can only make this assessment after he is clear about his analysis of the market and has a trading plan at the beginning of every trading day. 3. A successful trader does not get unnerved by losses A winning trader is always cautious; he knows each trade is just another trade, so he always uses money management techniques. He never over leverages and always has set-ups and rules which he follows religiously. He takes losses in his stride and tries to understand why the market moved against him. Often you get important trading lessons from your losses. 4. A successful trader tries to capture the large market moves Novice traders often book profits too quickly because they want to enjoy the winning feeling. Sometimes even on the media one hears things like, â€Å"You never lose your shirt booking profits.† I believe novice traders actually lose their account equity quickly because they do not book their losses quickly enough. Knowledgeable traders on the other hand, will also lose their trading equity — though slowly — if they are satisfied in booking small profits all the time. By doing that the only person who can grow rich is your broker. And this does happen because, inevitably, you will have periods of drawdowns when you are not in sync with the market. You can never cover a 15-20 per cent drawdown if you keep booking small profits. The best you will do is be at breakeven at the end of the day, which is not the goal of successful trading. A trading account that is not growing is not sustainable. Thus when you believe you have entered into a large move, you need to ride it out till the market stops acting right. Traders with a lot of knowledge of technical analysis, but little experience, often get into the quagmire of following very small targets, believing the market to be overbought at every small rise — and uniformly so in all markets. Such traders are unable to make money because they are too smart for their own good. They forget to see the phase of the market. Not only do these traders book profits early, sometimes they even take short positions believing that a correction is â€Å"due†. Markets do not generally correct when corrections are â€Å"due†. The best policy is to use a trailing stop loss and let the market run when it wants to run. The disciplined trader understands this and keeps stop losses wide enough so that he is balanced between staying in the move as well as protecting his equity. Capturing a few large moves every year is what really makes worthwhile trading profits. 5. A successful trader always keeps learning You cannot learn trading in a day or even a few weeks, sometimes not even in months. Successful traders keep reading all the new research on technical analysis they can get their hands on. They also read a number of books every month about techniques, about trading psychology and about other successful traders and how they manage their accounts. I often like to think about traders as jehadis; unless there is a fire in the belly, unless there is a strong will and commitment to win, it is impossible to win consistently in the market. 6. A successful trader always tries to make some money with less risky strategies as well Futures trading, for example, is a very risky business. The best of chartists and the best of traders sometimes fail. Sure, it gives the highest returns but these may not be consistent — and the drawdowns can be large. Traders should always remember that no matter how good your analysis is, sometimes the market is not willing to oblige. In these times the 4-5 per cent that can be earned in covered calls or futures and cash arbitrage comes in very handy. It improves the long term sustainability of a trader and keeps your profit register ringing. Traders must learn to live with lower risk and lower return at certain times in the market, in order to protect and enlarge their capital. Disciplined traders have reasonable risk and return expectations and are open to using less risky and less exciting strategies of making money, which helps them tide over rough periods in the markets. 7. A successful trader treats trading as a business and keeps a positive attitude Trading can be an expensive adventure sport. It should be treated as a business and should be very profit oriented. Successful traders review their performance at regular intervals and try to identify causes of both superior and inferior performance. The focus should be on consistent profits rather than erratic large profits and losses. Also, trading performance should not be made a judgement on an individual; rather, it should be considered a consequence of right or wrong actions. Disciplined traders are able to identify when they are out of sync with the market and need to reduce position size, or keep away altogether. Successful trading is like dancing in rhythm with the market. Unsuccessful traders often cut down on all other expenses but refuse to see what might be wrong with their trading methods. Denial is a costly attitude in trading. If you see that a particular trade is not working the way you had expected, reduce or eliminate your positions and see what is going on. Most disciplined and successful traders are very humble. Humility is a virtue that traders should learn on their own, else the market makes sure that they do. Ego and an â€Å"I can do no wrong† attitude in good times can lead to severe drawdowns in the long term. Also, bad days in trading should be accepted as cheerfully as the good ones. So disciplined traders maintain composure whether they have made a profit or not on a particular day and avoid mood swings. A good way to do this is to also participate in activities other than trading and let the mind rest so that it is fresh for the next trading day. 8. A successful trader never blames the market Disciplined traders do not blame the market, the government, the companies or anyone else, conveniently excluding themselves, for their losses. The market gives ample opportunities to traders to make money. It is only the trader’s fault if he fails to recognise them. Also, the market has various phases. It is overbought sometimes and oversold at other times. It is trending some of the time and choppy at others. It is for a trader to take maximum advantage of favourable market conditions and keep away from unfavourable ones. With the help of derivatives, it is now possible to make some money in all kinds of markets. So the trader needs to look for opportunities all the time. To my mind, the important keys to making long term money in trading are: * Keeping losses small. Remember all losses start small * Ride as many big moves as possible * Avoid overtrading. * Never try to impose your will on the market It is impossible to practice all of the above perfectly. However, if you can practice all of the above with some degree of success, improvement in trading performance can be dramatic. 9. A disciplined trader keeps a cushion If new traders are lucky to come into a market during a roaring bull phase, they sometimes think that the market is the best place to put all one’s money. But successful and seasoned traders know that if the market starts acting differently in the future, which it surely will, profits will stop pouring in and there might even be periods of losses. So do not commit more than a certain amount to the market at any given point of time. Take profits from your broker whenever you have them in your trading account and stow them away in a separate account. I say this because the market is like a deep and big well. No matter how much money you put in it, it can all vanish. So by having an account where you accumulate profits during good times, it helps you when markets turn unfavourable. This also makes drawdowns less stressful as you have the cushion of previously earned profits. Trading is about walking a tightrope most times. Make sure you have enough cushion if you fall. 10. A successful trader knows there is no Holy Grail in the market There is no magical key to the Indian or any other stock market. If there were, investment banks that spend billions of dollars on research would snap it up. Investing software and trading books by themselves can’t make you enormously wealthy. They can only give you tools and skills that you can learn to apply. And, finally, there is no free lunch; every trading penny has to be earned. I would recommend that each trader identify his own style, his own patterns, his own horizon and the set-ups that he is most comfortable with and practice them to perfection. You need only to be able to trade very few patterns to make consistent profits in the market. No gizmos can make a difference to your trading. There are no signals that are always 100 per cent correct, so stop looking for them. Focus, instead, on percentage trades, trying to catch large moves and keeping your methodology simple. What needs constant improving are discipline and your trading psychology. At end of the day, money is not made by how complicated-looking your analysis is but whether it gets you in the right trade at the right time. Over-analysis can, in fact, lead to paralysis and that is death for a trader. If you can’t pull the trigger at the right time, then all your analysis and knowledge is a waste.

Essay on Holocaust

Holocaust: What Can Be Worse? The Holocaust is a dark page in the history of Europeans. It was genocide of more than six million European Jews during World War II performed by the Nazi Germany. These six million people who were exterminated made two-thirds of the Jews population who had lived in Europe before the Holocaust. Frankly speaking, for me the question of how the Holocaust happened and why still remains incomprehensible. I’m definitely sure that it is one of the most horrifying and shocking deeds of the humankind. Its victims were tortured in devious ways that eventually led to death. Among those methods there were: internal irrigation, sun lamp, hot bath, freezing, etc. And I think that the generation that lives today should preserve the memory of those events and promote the idea that the Holocaust must never happen again. To my mind, this problem should be discussed when children are at school, because people start to form their understanding of the world when they are young and in the adulthood it is rather difficult to change their point of view. There are special museums that dedicate their existence only to education about the Holocaust; there are many books and articles dedicated to those events, as well as special forums and sites. Thus, there are many opportunities to educate children and explain then that despite the fact that we are all different, we are people who have the same rights, who breathe the same air and who have certain dreams and goals to achieve. To sum up, I’d like to say that we need to be proud that we are all different, as everyone with his or her unique character and abilities is needed. And differences should be the reason to live, but not to die.