Social Contract
Theory Of Origin Of
State
Dr. Gagandeep Dhaliwal
Asst. Professor Political Science
Army Institute of Law
Social Contract Theory Of Origin
Of State
• This theory stands in a contrast to the Divine theory of origin of
State.
• Was significant from 16th to 19th Century
• The social contractualists Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau believed
that the State is not a divine institution but a result of a
contract concluded by men living in the state of nature.
• This theory talks about the origin of state as well as the mutual
relations between the ruler and the ruled. Main advocates of the
theory- Hobbes, Locke & Rousseau
Social Contract Theory Of Origin
Of State
• The theory will be discussed under three heads
Philosopher’s views about Human nature
His views about State of nature
Features of his Social Contract
Hobbes’ Social Contract Theory Of
Origin Of State
• Thomas Hobbes was great English philosopher of the
16th century
• A contemporary of English Civil War of 1642 who
witnessed King Charles being beheaded.
• A tutor to Charles II
• Thoroughly supported Absolute monarchy
• His work ‘Leviathan’ was published in 1657
Hobbes’ Social Contract Theory Of
Origin Of State
• Hobbes’ views on Human nature
• Having witnessed the bloody civil war of England, Hobbes
believed man to be selfish by nature. This instinct of
selfishness predominated his rationality and he indulged
in violence. Hobbes’s man was a selfish, irrational,
arrogant, non co-operative and violent being .
Social Contract Theory Of Origin
Of State
• What is State of Nature ?
• It is the phase/stage or condition in which man lived
before the creation of the State.
• Since he lived in the lap of mother nature, hence that
phase is termed as state of nature.
Hobbes’ Social Contract Theory Of
Origin Of State
• Hobbes’ state of nature
Since Hobbes’ man was bad by nature being selfish, cruel,
violent & non- cooperative by nature, the state of nature
was a state of utter chaos and anarchy.
The factor that governed the state of nature was , ‘Kill
whom you can & take what you can.’ People did not
hesitate to kill and harm each other for their selfish ends.
Hobbes’ Social Contract Theory Of
Origin Of State
• Hobbes- “ The state of nature is a state of war of all
against all. A state where nothing could be unjust
and force and fraud were the two cardinal principles.
• Hence no , knowledge , trade, industry, culture etc could
prosper under such circumstances.
• Hobbes felt that, “Life of man was solitary, poor,
nasty, brutish and short.”
Hobbes’ Social Contract Theory Of
Origin Of State
• Need for a State
To get out of this miserable state of nature people decided
to enter into a contract with each order in order to create a
state.
According to Hobbes each man said to other man, ‘I
authorize and give up my right of governing myself to
this man or this assembly of men on this condition
that thou also give up thy right to him and authorize
all his actions in like manner.”
Features of Hobbes’ Social
Contract
• Sovereign is not party to the contract
• Sovereign is the result of the contract
• People had no rights against the sovereign
• The contract was irrevocable
• People surrender all their rights except the Right to Self-
Preservation
Features of Hobbes’ Social
Contract
• Individual Liberty was the gift of the Sovereign
• The contract created a State based on Absolute
Sovereignty
• Relationship between the ruler and the ruled
Hobbes’ Social Contract Theory- A
Criticsm
• The contract is unhistorical
• A contract always has two parties
• Erroneous views about human Nature
• Rights are not possible outside the state
• People of state of nature cannot become reasonable
overnight
