What is a "social contract"?
Compare the ideas of Hobbes and Locke regarding the social contract.
- Thomas Hobbes believed that humans are fundamentally predisposed to selfishness and destruction, living originally in a violent "state of nature," unrestrained by laws or moral discipline. To improve their lives, humans agree to enter into "social contracts," by which they surrender some of their personal autonomy to a governing authority in exchange for order and protection.
- John Locke, a contemporary of Hobbes, took a more optimistic view of human nature. Humans, he said, are governed by certain "natural laws" inherent to us as God's creation, including the rights to life, liberty, health, and property. A just society respects and protects each citizen's natural rights; humans willingly enter into social contracts in order to create a just society with a central authority. Unlike Hobbes, Locke believed that the authority of the state could be questioned, challenged, or even changed.
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The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution gives us a right to confront our
accusers in a criminal trial.
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.Identify any fallacies in the following passage."That Ehrman fellow started off as a fairly fundamentalist religious person, but after all that education and study, he finally wound up being an atheist. His opinions about the scriptures are not the ones you want to listen to."
Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).
Event-Cause:
A. a direct cause. B. an event causing an event. C. an indirect cause. D. a self causing an event. E. a random cause.
"A boat is a craft smaller than a ship that's used for navigation" is which type of definition?
A) reportive B) contextual C) ostensive