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Hugo Grotius
Hobbes was a prominent 17th-century British philosopher who is best remembered for helping formulate the theory of the social contract in his book Leviathan. Hobbes famously argued that the state of nature is a “war of all against all,” in which nobody is safe because no law restricts people from violence. As a result, he argued that the sovereign must have absolute power—even if that means oppressing citizens—to maintain peace and order. While Hobbes’s arguments about the state of nature and the necessity of undivided sovereign power greatly influenced Rousseau, whose arguments changed somewhat from the Discourse on Inequality to The Social Contract as a result, Rousseau is also generally critical of Hobbes’s willingness to accept a state in which citizens have little or no freedom over how they are governed. In a sense, The Social Contract can be read as a direct response to Hobbes’s Leviathan (and to English philosopher John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, which also explained the formation of society through the transition from a state of nature to a social contract).
Thomas Hobbes Quotes in The Social Contract
The The Social Contract quotes below are all either spoken by Thomas Hobbes or refer to Thomas Hobbes. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 1, Chapter 2
Quotes
If there are slaves by nature, it is only because there has been slavery against nature. Force made the first slaves; and their cowardice perpetuates their slavery.
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Book 1, Chapter 4
Quotes
To renounce freedom is to renounce one’s humanity, one’s rights as a man and equally one’s duties. There is no possible quid pro quo for one who renounces everything; indeed such renunciation is contrary to man’s very nature; for if you take away all freedom of the will, you strip a man’s actions of all moral significance. Finally, any covenant which stipulated absolute dominion for one party and absolute obedience for the other would be illogical and nugatory. Is it not evident that he who is entitled to demand everything owes nothing? And does not the single fact of there being no reciprocity, no mutual obligation, nullify the act? For what right can my slave have against me? If everything he has belongs to me, his right is my right, and it would be nonsense to speak of my having a right against myself.
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Thomas Hobbes Quotes in The Social Contract
The The Social Contract quotes below are all either spoken by Thomas Hobbes or refer to Thomas Hobbes. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 1, Chapter 2
Quotes
If there are slaves by nature, it is only because there has been slavery against nature. Force made the first slaves; and their cowardice perpetuates their slavery.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 1, Chapter 4
Quotes
To renounce freedom is to renounce one’s humanity, one’s rights as a man and equally one’s duties. There is no possible quid pro quo for one who renounces everything; indeed such renunciation is contrary to man’s very nature; for if you take away all freedom of the will, you strip a man’s actions of all moral significance. Finally, any covenant which stipulated absolute dominion for one party and absolute obedience for the other would be illogical and nugatory. Is it not evident that he who is entitled to demand everything owes nothing? And does not the single fact of there being no reciprocity, no mutual obligation, nullify the act? For what right can my slave have against me? If everything he has belongs to me, his right is my right, and it would be nonsense to speak of my having a right against myself.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
