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Essays about the social contract theory
Essays about the social contract theory
Some beliefs that Thomas Jefferson had
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Aristotle rightly said that the family is the building block of the society and each family has its common values and preferences. Even though individuals may belong to the same family and society, they would have diverse opinions on what the society should be and where it should be headed. Even in the face of shared values by a society, there is another discriminant of individual’s value systems- their experiences. These experiences make them masters of themselves because they assume that their experiences are unique to only them and therefore these views should be recognized as valid. James O’Toole categorised the value systems of individuals under the four major themes of community, efficiency, liberty and equality (O'Toole, 1995). This paper reflects on the good society and its constituents in the light of these four themes. O’Toole believes these four are the great themes of political argument which face trade-offs with each other and have an inverse relationship with each other, that is, an increase in one causes a decrease of the other. Thomas Jefferson considered the good society to be a society in which everyone was happy and I agree with that because happiness is the end product of various favourable factors in a person’s life. Furthermore, I am of the same view that a good society is one that ensures the rights of every member of the society. This is because every human being is innately self-seeking and this is evident in a child’s selfish efforts to attain his or her wants in spite of being young in knowledge of the society. Even though humans can be selfless, their basic needs should at least be met because the satisfaction of their needs sustain them and ensures their contentment. To ensure basic rights of individuals, it is essential to know which value they hold dear, whose fulfilment would bring them long lasting pleasure, thus, leading into the exploration of these major core values. Liberty is concerned with freedom of the individual in three spheres, which are in politics, religion and economics and this value births individuals who are known as libertarians. The modern Libertarian principle that these individuals operate by is that “the equal right to freedom constitutes the full extent of human equality; all other equalities are unwarranted and unjust” (O'Toole, 1995). Thus, libertarians support every kind of liberty which includes economic liberty hence, capitalism. As such they believe that government interventions in the free market stifle economic progress.
...n abundant amount of goods and never depriving their own. In a way, it is similar to my definition in certain aspects because these values that Jefferson believed in are the foundation to pursuing your true happiness.
The good of society came from the sacrifice of self-interest, which was an influence from classic republicanism. Jefferson believed that the people in society are naturally social and political. Social ethics in American society called for the restraining and punishment of violence and theft. Issues in societies in America also used Classical Republicanism by Thomas Jefferson through moral choice with the knowledge of good and evil. Classical Republicanism showed citizens as the best preservers of individual natural rights.
Without doubt, the early period of the 21st century is characterised by unprecedented social and cultural change. In this new context, the old Conservative-Liberal divide no longer has the capacity to effectively describe the place of values in the Western world. A better, more comprehensive explanation must be found for the origins of social ethics, political values and religious insight. Thomas Sowell’s ‘conflict of visions’ model offers an important key for understanding and interpreting values in the 21st century Western context.
and argues that every man has the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Jefferson’s document shows not only his strongly held beliefs in freedom, but his acceptance of and belief in the views of the Age of Reason. He believed himself to be a person who was doing what was morally right, not for the fame that would eventually accompany it.
“All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (D of I 261). This statement, written by Thomas Jefferson, has to be one of the most controversial statements ever written. It does however agree with one of our earlier authors we read. Epicurus would agree with Jefferson in the manner that everyone should search for happiness. He tells us that “one must practice the things that produce happiness, since if that is present we have everything and if it is absent, we do everything in order to have it” (Letter to Menoeceus). It is apparent to Epicurus that the search for happiness is an absolute goal. Everyone either gets it or spends their life looking for it. Because of this, it is obvious to see how this author would agree with Jefferson by saying that we are given an unalienable right to pursue happiness. Another philosopher of our first semester that would have to agree with Jefferson is Aristotle. Unlike his teacher, Plato, Aristotle believed in the senses and also felt happiness was, what he called, one of the goods. “We think happiness is the most choiceworthy of all goods” (Nicmachean Ethics: Bk1 ch.
You are all probably thinking, how can we attain happiness for ourselves and the state? The answer lies in virtue. In particular, "human good turns out to be activity of the soul in accordance with virtue," (Aristotle, Ethics Book I). While some may think wealth is the final end, i...
A Vision Achieved Jefferson envisioned a government that allowed its citizens to exercise inalienable rights. In exact words, he states, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” To be more evident, how can we define these “inalienable rights” of “life”, “liberty”, and the “pursuit of happiness?” Have these inalienable rights, achieved Jefferson’s goal? I am convinced, Jefferson’s revolutionary vision of life, liberty, and happiness has at last been achieved in America.
In the early 1800s Thomas Jefferson envisioned American society as a nation of independent farmers living under the central government that exercised a minimum control over their rights and protected individual rights of the people gr...
This is the sort of society in which one family, or person, is of merit so outstanding as to surpass all the other members.there should be absolute kingship” (III.17). When Aristotle speaks about “virtue,” describes a constitution as “good,” or issues any other form of praise, he is almost always speaking about the ability of the constitution to provide its citizens with the opportunity to pursue the good life.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Liberty and equality belong to the same category as moral conceptions. Despite both aiming at improving lives of the people, their relationship is in conflict so that we have to choose between them. Liberty and equality have been discussed over and over and those discussions have been generally inconclusive. Philosophers and scholars who embarked on this discussion have ended up with different notions. From egalitarian point of view, liberty and equality cannot coexist peacefully and they clash in the area of property rights. Property is infringed by government to compensate those who naturally do not own much property. On the contention of the two concepts, Ronald Dworkin argues that if there really were a conflict between equality and liberty, equality would have to win (Dworkin, 2000). This sentiment implies that the two terms are rivals. Let us take equality of wealth as a goal; achieving and maintaining equal wealth amongst citizens would require violation of liberty. Maintaining equality of wealth would require a redistribution of resources over a time such as taking wealth from other people and give it to others infringing upon the right to private property. Dworkin stresses that egalitarians are mainly concerned with socio-economic equality imposed by the state through progressive taxes and welfare provision (Dworkin, 2000). Basing on the original position that all men have equal access to goods, it will be justifiable for the state to introduce redistributive taxes on the rich who do not have any justified claim to their property. This paper will further examine the conflict between liberty and equality by looking at their definitions from the perspective of different philosophers and scholars.
Libertarians such as John Hospers who wrote The Libertarian Manifesto, shares some of the views libertarians have about how wealth and income is distributed. Hospers explains that libertarianism is the doctrine that every person is the owner of his own life and that no one is the owner of anyone else’s life. What he shares is that he believes that all should have the rights extended from the government protected which is the right to life, the right to liberty, and to property. He believes that each man should live the life that he chooses and that no man should take someone else’s property or there life and that government should never enter in to areas such as religion, social organization or economics. Hospers believes that if the government removed itself from these things then people would not go hungry because the economy would flourish and there would not be a need for anyone to distribute their wealth.
"Africa Before Transatlantic Slavery: The Abolition of Slavery Project." Africa Before Transatlantic Slavery: The Abolition of Slavery Project. E2BN, 2009. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. .
Today, more than ever, there is great debate over politics and which economic system works the best. How needs and wants should be allocated, and who should do the allocating, is one of the most highly debated topics in our current society. Be it communist dictators defending a command economy, free market conservatives defending a market economy, or European liberals defending socialism, everyone has an opinion. While all systems have flaws and merits, it must be decided which system is the best for all citizens. When looking at both the financial well being of all citizens, it is clear that market economies fall short on ensuring that the basic needs of all citizens are met. If one looks at liberty and individual freedom, it is evident that command economies tend to oppress their citizens. Therefore, socialism, which allows for basic needs to be met and personal freedoms to be upheld, is the best economic system for all of a country’s citizens.
Ghana: The Gold Coast of Africa The Gold Coast, now known as Ghana, is one of many civilizations of Africa. It was a British Colony until March 6, 1957, when it became independent as the State of Ghana. In 1471, the Portuguese invaded this area and became involved in gold trade, giving the region the name, The Gold Coast.
There has been an uneven distribution of poverty incidence and poverty gap in Ghana over the past decades. A proportion of the population of Ghana enjoys fair outcome of the national development whiles others lumber in poverty. In fact, poverty level would have reduced in Ghana if there is a decreasing inequality. The disparities in the distri-bution of welfare between the rural poor and the urban population in Ghana may be attributed to several factors.