SOCI 3300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Scottish Enlightenment, Invisible Hand, Social Capital
Document Summary
Hobbes 1600s (social contract theory: pre-enlightenment, made social order a key theme, wrote the text, leviathan . Leviathan represents a strong government (the commonwealth) Nasty, brutish, and short : living conditions for humans. Government is necessary to maintain social order so that these conditions don"t happen. Says the government can be of one man (dictatorship) or a group of men: creates the first secular political theory, surrender all of our control to government. Social contract theory (normative theory: observing the world and then making suggestions on how the world should be) French: enlightenment, social contract theory (normative theory) Modification of hobbes social construct theory: the nature of the government isn"t to love their people, challenging the notion that might makes right . We should be obliged to obey only legitimate power, not forced power: connecting individuals to the state (social contract) Going to be more free using this contract. Harder to accomplish in the real world.
