Exam 1

The four-armed prophets are Moses, Cyrus, Theseus, and Romulus.

Effectual truth is the state that the world is in, rather than the ideal one that philosophers like Aristotle think ought to happen.

The two humors are the people and the great. The people want to not be oppressed while the greats or nobles want to oppress.

The frontispiece represents the sovereign’s power and the social contract between the people and the state. It depicts a giant, sovereign figure with a crown, sword, and crosier which is made up of smaller people who are giving up some of their rights and power to the sovereign, which represent Hobbes' ideal form of government.

Sovereignty comes from the pool of rights signed away by covenants. The sovereign has absolute power to enforce the social contract as authorized by these covenants.

Mutual transferring of rights for a future good.

Power is the means by which you get something done, or “present means to obtain some future apparent good,” which comes from the text. An example of power is natural power which comes from the body or mind like arts or liberality which allows a person to gain more fortune, riches, friends…etc

Peace, for Hobbes, is an artificial, fragile condition created through the social contract, where individuals agree to give up their natural rights and submit to a common authority (the sovereign) in exchange for protection.

Locke's state of war is present in the state of nature and occurs when one person violates or threatens to violate ones natural rights without just cause.

The right to property according to Locke is based on the idea that individuals own their own labor, and when they mix that labor with natural resources, they create something that belongs to them exclusively — as long as they leave enough for others and do not waste what they take.

The source of value is the labor or the act of applying labor to something.

One of Locke’s arguments is that individuals retain certain inalienable natural rights (life, liberty, and property) even after entering into a social contract. This means that even the government can’t claim absolute power over its citizens, unlike Hobbes who believed individuals should surrender all rights to the sovereign of the state as a way to escape the state of war.

Locke’s three powers of government are the legislative, executive, and federative powers.

The natural man is ignorant, meaning self-sufficiency and simplicity keep him from becoming greedy or vengeful, allowing him to live in harmony with nature and others. He does not know envy or jealousy because he lacks the artificial desires that society creates.

The state of nature before the development of civilization and social inequality. The natural man in this state was independent, self-sufficient, and peaceful.

Amour-propre is the idea of self-pride or self-love that is entirely based on other’s opinions. People strive for approval, which leads to envy, corruption, and inequality.

Rousseau's notion of "perfectibility" refers to the human capacity for self-improvement and adaptation over time, particularly through society and culture. Perfectibility is what sets humans apart from other animals and allows them to change and evolve in ways that go beyond mere survival instincts.

Rousseau’s general will is the collective will of the people, who make their own laws and seek to promote the common good

The thesis of the First Discourse is the idea that the advancement of the arts and sciences has led to the corruption of human morality by focusing on material goods and has made humans less focused on core virtues like honesty and simplicity.

Consent is a necessary condition for people to freely form a legitimate government under a social contract. The people have to be willing to be governed by the general will.

people are equal, not because of any higher power, but because any man can overcome any other man despite the gaps in physical or mental capability
Therefore people will just take what they want from everyone else, no idea of society at all, that only comes from the Commonwealth
Everyone has the right to do whatever they feel necessary to preserve themselves - even harming one another
State of nature is a state of war of all against all
Men enter into the Commonwealth because they are selfish, do not want their stuff taken away, and are willing to give up their right to steal in order to protect themselves
Extremely negative - entirely couched in self-interest
His law of nature is the inverse of the Christian one
“Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself”

The natural man is Selfish, but with no desire to dominate others as long as he can get what he needs
Also naturally pity others by viewing ourselves in their position - this makes us do good things for others and is undermined by reason, as it is fundamentally irrational
Does not have any conception of himself in the eyes of others, (Amoure-Propre)
Humanity is also perfectible, meaning that over time society develops and we are thus corrupted by society
As humans exist in society, the problem of the particular good of the individual and the common good arises
Not a problem for the natural man, because there is no collective - he only does what is good for him
The creation of the general will is necessary for the establishment of a good society
People govern themselves fairly without singling out any person or groups of specific people - no singling out of particular interests

State of nature often divulges into state of war when people enforce their natural rights (life, liberty, property)
State of nature itself is good - everyone is equal, no one is better than anyone else because we are all made by God - appeals to a higher power here to enforce natural right and natural equality
Our lives are not our own, means we cannot harm ourselves, but also cannot harm anyone else
The state of war is an aberration, political society comes about because having a neutral judge is the easiest way to avoid the state of war
Therefore, because people are naturally good, they can and should be trusted to run their own government - leads to Locke’s democratic views when compared to the others
Private property is a natural extension of human labor and means to promote individual liberty- bearing fruits of ones labor gives you more security and freedom