Thomas Hobbes Social Contract Theory

Thomas Hobbes, in Leviathan, states that in a state of nature men are all equal, and thus at war with each other, writing, “in such a condition, every man has a Right to every thing; even to one anothers body. And therefore, as long as this natural Right of every man to everything endureth, there can be no security by any man,” (Hobbes, 190). Therefore the need for a social contract theory, in this theory, men are naturally self-interested; furthermore, rational, thus choosing to submit to the political authority (i.e. the Sovereign) in order to live peacefully in a civil society. Hobbes emphasizes a universal freedom; natural equality; and justice, shared within— and between— all men of the state, which is why all rational men should consent to being governed or else be in a constant state of civil war. Thus, every man (i.e. contractors) that consents to being governed gives up his natural right to everything, which Hobbes claims is the only way to gain personal security within a society. …show more content…
Mills, work together in Contract and Domination to explore the relationships of subordination and the ‘interlocking nature’ of social contract theories regarding patriarchy, sex and race. Mills, specifically, constructs the racia-sexual contract, which he asserts, “establishes the white-supremacist patriarchal polity,” (Mills, 173). In the racia-sexual contract, white men are recognized as full persons, and thus the only full contractors; white women and non-white men are subcontractors; and at the bottom of the structure are nonwhite women, dominated by the aforementioned groups and thus non-contractors and nonpersons— a doubly imposition by both their race and gender in the racia-sexual contract (Mills,