The Social Contract Tradition: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau
ABSTRACT: The classical contract tradition of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau have enjoyed such fame and acceptance as being basic to the development of liberal democratic theory and practice that it would be heretical for any scholar, especially one from the fringes, to critique. But the contract tradition poses challenges that must be given the flux in the contemporary socio-political universe that at once impels extreme nationalism and unavoidable globalism. This becomes all the more important not in order to dislodge the primacy of loyalty and reverence to this tradition but from another perspective which hopes to encourage that the anchorage of disclosure be implemented. The contract tradition makes pronouncements on what is natural and what is nonnatural. It offers what many have contended are rigorous arguments for these pronouncements that are "intuitive," "empirical," "logical," "psychological," "moral," "religio-metaphysical." What I offer in this essay is a challenge from the outside. I ask: 1) on what empirical data are the material presuppositions of contractarianism built? 2) what is the epistemological foundation of contractarianism? 3) is contractarianism not derivable from any other form of sociological presupposition except that of the state of nature? 4) does any human know a "state of nature"? 5) given the answers to the above questions, to what extent are the legal and moral foundations of contractarianism sacrosanct? I attempt to answer these questions in what can only be a sketch, but my answers suggest that it is very presumptuous of contractarianist to suppose that they have captured the only logically valid basis of democratic practice universally.
Introduction
The classical social contract tradition of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau have, in spite of their variation in themes and emphases, enjoyed such fame and acceptance as being basic to the development of liberal democratic theory and practice that it would be almost heresy for any scholar, especially one from the fringes or margins of mainstream (socio-political) philosophical academia, to post frontal, side, arial, rear or sub-surface attack and critique. But the social contract tradition poses challenges that must be accepted on various counts, with new insights and interpretations, given the fluxed reality in contemporary socio-political universe that at once impels extreme nationalism and unavoidable globalism. This becomes all the more important, not simply in order to dislodge the primacy of the loyalty and the reverence of devotion from the followers of this tradition
The article “Students and Homework,” written by Josephine Campbell, describes a very important topic in education. Homework has always been an essential part of the American education system. Although not required in a vast amount of school districts, many educators recur to this resource for various purposes such as a remedial strategy or method of advancement. Throughout history, the concept has been taken from different approaches in regards of the time period and overall purpose of assigning. However, it was during the time period that involved the space race with the Soviets that homework was specifically encouraged to improve the United States’ educational system. As of today, homework is still revolutionizing the concept of education
For those who are familiar with John Locke’s social contract should remember that as an individual we give up certain freedoms that we see fit in order to protect our basic rights to life, liberty, and property. If an individual breaks this “contract” then why should they reape its protection. If someone violates the terms of a contract then they lose all that it entails. Why should it be any different in this situation. The individual has willing broken the contract and should suffer as anyone else would in this certain situation. By taking away the rights to life of someone else that person has forfeit their own. This means that they officially become the state 's property does it not? This is something to think of as it would completely change the system by which our criminals of a caliber as high as this would be tried. People that argue against this ask for a sympathetic role to which leads the question to,”To what are you appealing?” At this point they are already unable to contribute back to society. They are in a word a parasite leeching away at the life of those that follow the rules that they as a part of society have created and contribute to.
Stager, Gary. "Questioning Homework's Worth." Curriculum Administrator Jan. 2001. Questia School. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Since the 60s, government budgets have been influenced by the need to finance healthcare especially the cost of Medicare and Medicaid benefits. According to CMS’ National Health Expenditure Projections , total health care expenditures have grown by an average of 2.5 percentage points faster per year than the nation‘s Gross Domestic Product. For about 60 percent of workers who receive some form of health care coverage from their employers, the cost of their health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses have increased significantly faster than their own wages; and between 1999 and 2008, both average health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, co-payments for medications, and co-insura...
American people look at their insurance bills, co-pays and drug costs, and can't understand why they continue to increase. The insured should consider all of these reasons before getting upset. In 2004, employee health care premiums increased over 11 percent, four times more than the rate of inflation. In 2003, premiums rose 10.1 percent and in 2002 they rose 15 percent. Employee spending for coverage increased 126 percent between 2000 and 2004. Those increases were lower than expected. (National Coalition on Health Care, 2005, Facts on health care costs). Premiums have risen five times faster than workers wages, on average. If medical spending continues to rise by just two percent more than personal income, by 2040 Medicare and Medicaid would hit 18.5 percent of the gross domestic product, leading the federal deficit to be 20.7 of the gross domestic product. (Melcer, R., 2004, St Louis Post-Dispatch, Rising Costs of healthcare pose huge challenges).
...have either positive or negative effects on school performance” (Pg. 58). The author notes it is very evident in the classroom whether students react positive or negative by their reactions to the assignments.
Toward the end of the 1990s, health care cost inflation began to decrease slowly after a steep increase in the early part of the decade. The patient population at that time hoped that various policies and programs implemented by government, employers, and insurers in the '90s that were put in place to control costs would continue to moderate the overall increases for the year to come. This was not the case and at this point in time rising health care costs have again become a major issue for patients seeking medical care. During the 2000’s the average annual health insurance premium in the private sector had a dramatic increase to $2,655 for single coverage and $6,772 for family coverage, an increase of 33.3 percent and 36.7 percent, respectively, since 1996, according to new data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ, 2000).
Despite some of Machiavelli’s more provocative and shocking statements in The Prince, upon a close reading, his values are not very different from those of the classical period. Although he rejects the genuine need for generosity, mercy, and honesty in return for the appearance thereof; he keeps the more significant remaining values the way they are. The changes that he makes in explaining his view of the world are based on his examination of humans as inherently corrupt and self-serving.
Pinn, Anthony B., and Paul Easterling. "Followers Of Black Jesus On Alert: Thoughts On The
Have you ever wanted to just shred up your homework or throw it out the window and have no consequences? Kids are assigned daily homework from the time they start kindergarten at the ripe young age of five. Is it really necessary? Does it even help better learning or even higher test scores? The amount of homework we do wastes time, money, paper, and trees because it’s practically the exact same thing we did in class that day. Homework causes kid’s and teen’s frustration, tiredness, little time for other activities and possibly even a loss of interest in their education. It also keeps everyone up; it has kids and teens staying up until they finish it, the parents trying to help them and the teachers grading it. So, I think that homework is a waste and kids and teens should choose whether they want to do their homework for extra credit and practice or not.
Although homework may seem like drudgery, the hard work that is put into homework may pay off in the long run. In the article, “Does homework really work for students?” Jacqueline Carey, the mother of seventh grade student Micah Carey, stated that “homework gives [students] a good foundation for when they move on further in school” (Johnson). Not only that but according to Donyall Dickey, principle at Murray Hill Middle School, “if students do not acquire things in class, they will acquire them through homework” (Johnson). As we can see homework helps and prepares us for higher grade levels while in primary school that can possibly prepare us for college. It also helps us to remember the materials that were taught in class. Another reason homework can be beneficial is the fact that it can prepare us for tests and the dreadful pop-quiz that a teacher may randomly give us. This fact was proven, according to a 2006 study by Harris Cooper, director of Duke University’s Program in education, in the article “Homework or Not? That is the (Research) Question”. The studies instituted that “students who had homework performed better on class tests compared to those who did not” (DeNisco). Another compelling thing about homework, are the qualities a skills th...
Many of the greatest thinkers of the 17th and 18th centuries theorized about human nature. Many like John Locke believed that living minds were like a blank slate. Others such as Thomas Hobbes believed people were born “bad or brutish”. These philosophies were shaped by their views on the English Revolution. Hobbes and Locke both experienced many things during their lifetime that influenced the way they constructed their philosophies. The events in their lives were clearly evident when they talked about human nature and the social contract.
Dr. Michael Nagel, an associate professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast, says homework has no scientific benefit and that it could even be bad for a student’s brain. “The adult brain does not fully mature until the third decade of life (a person’s thirty’s) and too much stimulation could cause unnecessary stress on a student.” An analysis conducted by Pearson showed that the number of hours spent on homework was between ten and sixty-five hours a week, with females scoring higher on the hours of homework, stres...
Harris Cooper, a researcher on homework from Duke University, claims that too much homework causes stress. In this I paper will talk about the damaging effects homework has on a child, how homework causes students to dropout of school, and some ideas for an alternative to homework.
[2] N. Gandhewar, R. Sheikh, “Google Android: Emerging Software Platform for Mobile Devices”, International Journal on Computer