Consent, Consensus and the Leviathan: A Critical Study of Hobbes Political Theory for the Contemporary Society
- 1 General Studies Department, School of Sciences, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
Abstract
The purpose of the state and its apparatus right from the formation of human society to this contemporary period is still being confronted with the question of legitimacy. One of the major reasons why the state is formed is for the attainment of good life of the citizens. The institution of the state would thus remain legitimate only when those who are in political authority perform basic functions of government to meet the expectations of the members of the society. To this end, this paper examines the concept of consent and consensus as a foundation for the justification of the emergence of the state and argue that if there is no mutual agreement within the society, there can be little or no way of ensuring peaceful resolution of policy differences that is associated with the democratic process. Consequent upon this, the paper adopts Thomas Hobbes social contract theory as a theoretical framework to explain the origin of the state and justify the absolute power of the government which is rooted in the consent and the consensus of the people. The philosophical methods of conceptual clarification and critical analysis are employed to examine Hobbes political theory and evaluate its relevance to the contemporary society.
- Adeigbo, F. A. (1995). The State, the Social Contract Theory and the Doctrine of Estoppel. Journal of Philosophy and Development, 1, 49.
- Gauthier, D. (1986). Morals by Agreement (p. 275). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Held, D. (1984). Central Perspectives on the Modern States. In Political Theory and the Modern State (p. 90). London: Oxford Blackwell, Ltd.
- Hobbes, T. (1651). Leviathan or the Matter, Forme, and Power of a Commonwealth: Ecclesiastical and Civil (Chp. 6, p. 23). London.
- Husak, D. (1979). Sovereign and the Third Party Beneficiary. Journal of Value Inquiry, xiii, 150.
- Irele, D. (1998). Introduction to Political Philosophy (p. 41). Ibadan: University Press.
- Kann, M. (1978). Dialectic of Consent theory. The Journal of Politics, 40, 386-387. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2130093
- Macpherson, C. B. (Ed.) (1968). Hobbes’s Leviathan (p. 184). Harmondsworth: Pelican Books.
- Molesworth, W. (Ed.) (1962). Leviathan: English Works of Thomas Hobbes 111 (p. 74). London: John Bohn.
- Russell, B. (1995). A History of Western Philosophy (p. 540). London: Routledge.
- Strauss, L., & Cropsey, J. (1987). History of Political Philosophy (3rd ed., p. 400). London: The University of Chicago Press.
- Stumpf, S. E. (1994). Philosophy History and Problems (5th ed., p. 231). New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
- Vong, G. (2008). In Defense of Kant’s Moral Prohibition on Suicide Solely to Avoid Suffering. Journal of Medical Ethics, 34, 655-657. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jme.2007.021410