Social Contract

John Locke was a prominent figure in the fields of contractarianism and epistomology. His writings detailed a social contract, which invariably denotes the way people agree to be governed. John Locke was born 1632 and died 1704. He would have been influenced by many social factors. He witnessed the English Civil War between 1641 and 1651, where Oliver Cromwell ruled as dictator, before being superseeded by Charles II. After Charles II was James II, a catholic king, who thought himself as an absolute power, chosen by God himself. Locke’s views were contradictive of this, hence he was forced forced to flee during James’ rule. He returned at the beginning of the Glorious Revolution when William of Orange became King.

                Locke was evidently critical of religion, a sentiment echoed by Machiavelli, when he says ‘Church has kept and still keeps our country divided’. Locke saw the divisivness of religion and the afflictions it placed upon society. In additon, he belived it unconstructivly influenced monarchs to see themselves as chosen by God, also known as ‘The Divine Right of Kings’. It is argued that this ‘Divine Right’ can be traced back to the Old Testament whereby Adam says, ‘Let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air’. Locke believed God plays no part in the election or being of a king, consequently he asserts all people to be the same. He attacks the concept of ‘The Divine Right of Kings’ in ‘The Treatise of Sort’.

                ‘The Second Treatise’ documents further Locke’s ideas on the structures, hierarchies and governing of a society. Locke reflects upon a time before man walked the earth, he describes it as a ‘State of Nature’. He believes everyone should enjoy the right to natural freedom and equality, but should obey the overriding laws of nature. He supposes every man intuitivly knew these moral laws and that stemming from God they are ‘interwoven into the constitution of the human mind’.

                John Locke outlined 3 rights he felt were mandatory for all humans, provided they were not breached, these were Life; the right not to be killed, Liberty; the right to express yourself and Property; The right to securely own a property.

                He has been subject to fierce criticism relating to the final right he details; property. This criticism is primarily based around the unequal distribution of wealth and its contradiction to the concept of communism. This ‘right’ is also detached from Locke’s concept of ‘natural laws’. The ownership of property is a wholly constitutional idea.

                Locke insisted government should only ever be elected by mass consent and they should ‘limited by law’. They should act as a people’s parliment, whose principal concern was with the protection of property. He epitomised liberalist views with idea that taxes could only be levied upon public consent and people were within right to advocate mutiny if the ruling government ceased to respect law. He said, ‘revolution is a natural right’.

                Locke’s ideals could be considered dangerous as they could lead to unruliness. His ideas are a farcry from the autocratic ‘Plato’s Utopia’, but are vaguely demonstrated in David Cameron’s ideas pertaining to the ‘Big Society’. They don’t cautiously digress from tackling the role of state from a liberalist point of view.

Renaissance & Timeline of Important Philosophers

The renaissance period spanning approximately the 14^th to 17^th centuries spawned some of the most prolific and widely studied philosophers. Most expanded upon and rediscovered the ideas of ancient Greek Philosophers. People seldom challenged what was documented by the Ancient Greeks, as they did not want to be seen to be discarding traditional religious affiliated beliefs.  During the renaissance people began to challenge ideals to triumph humanism. Barring philosophical literature, the renaissance period was also famous for pioneering artwork and scientific advances. It began in Florence, Italy and was largely funded by the affluent dynasty, The Medici Family.

Some notes on Plato & Socrates

Plato 428/427 BC – 348/347 BC

If contentiously, Socrates is guilty of ‘corrupting’ the young, Plato would be one of the main protaganists.Plato used and adapted Socratic views on ethics and other intrinsic ideas to write what is known as ‘Plato’s Utopia’, the most notable is ‘The Republic’. Plato had very autocratic views on the management of society. He broke down his views on education into 3 categories. ‘Gravity’, denoted ‘rigid censorship over literature from the very early years’, ‘Decorum’ that, ‘Evils never come from the Gods for God is not the author of all things, but only of good things’. Finally he believed the young should be bred willing to die in battle, this is known as ‘courage’. This upbringing, plus other regulations relating to diet and exposure to vice, much be stringently adhered to for someone to become a ‘Guardian’. These are the people Plato deemed eligible to govern. He divided the rest of society in to ‘Soldiers’ and the inferior ‘Common People’. Known as ‘One Royal Lie’, he insinuated these categories were derived from God and people were in 3 groups, Gold, Silver and Brass or Iron.

Economically, Plato believed in living beneath means. He condemned poverty and wealth as evil and forbade it. He also believed in equal rights for women, including girls in education. But only sought children, born from respectable families. The best children would be taken and trained and forbidden to know who their parents are. He sanctioned abortion and infanticide as compulsory for children born outside his guidelines.

From ‘Republic’, Plato’s totalitarian viewpoint is evident in his definition of Justice, rather than equality, he regards it as ‘Law’. Personally I find Plato’s ‘Republic’ chapter interventionist and oppressive. It champions the most successful in society and disregards the rest, eliminating democracy. Thrasymachus displays Plato’s view when he says, ‘Justice is nothing than the interest of the stronger’.

One of Plato’s most pertinent analogies is The Cave. He draws similarities between those who are ignorant to philosophy and being locked in a desolate cave. The prisoners are only able to look in one direction, because they are bound. They have a blank wall in front and a fire behind, which casts their shadows onto the wall. They accept their shadows as reality. One of the men manages to escape the cave and experiences sunlight for the first time, subsequently recognizing he had been deceived by the shadows. Plato’s parable was designed to indicate that to become a guardian, you must be willing to re enter the cave to persuade the others to leave the cave. Bertrand Russell summarizes, ‘The underlying assumption is that reality, as opposed to appearance is completely and perfectly good; to perceive the good, therefore, is to perceive reality’.

Socrates 469 BC–399 BC

Socrates remains enigmatic and there is still debate about the legitimacy of evidence pertaining to Socrates.  At age 70 he was tried and sentenced to death for what was misconstrued as blasphemous teachings, especially to the young. Xenophon challenges this, claiming Socrates influence was ‘wholesome’. Socrates was keen to escalate capable people into positions of importance. His ambition was exposed when he denounced Shoemakers, Carpenters and Coppersmiths.

He went on to advise a general to undertake a course in tactics to perfect the art of war. In contrast, he condemned the War Minister to death using Hemlock, rather than endeavour to cure the ‘evils of which he complained’.

The documentation which is deemed most reliable is the ‘Apology’. This was written by Plato from memory some years after Socrates trial. Socrates trial was controversial, the prosecution alleged, ‘Socrates is an evil-doer and a curious person, searching into things under the earth and above the heaven; and making the worse appear the better cause, and teaching all this to others’. It appears evident Socrates had little desire to contest his punishment. When presented with a counter offer to avoid the inevitable death penalty, he made a deliberately insulting offer to his judges, intangibly accepting his fate.

This decision was largely based around Socrates views on death. ‘Fear of death is not wisdom, since no one knows whether death may not be the greater good’ and, ‘Those of us who think death is evil are in error’. It was speculated by Meletus that Socrates was a reserved atheist. I do not accept this view. Before his departure he said, ‘We go our ways- I to die, and you to live. Which is better only God knows’. This proves his belief in a God, but alludes to his scepticism about our lack of knowledge relating to death. Socrates tried to be a realist, and stray from traditional beliefs. The oracle of Delphi was cited with concluding there was no man wiser than Socrates. Socrates rejected this view, even after conversing with poets and politicians in an endeavour to find a wiser man. ‘God...intends to show that the wisdom of men is worth little or nothing’, he concluded. Socrates maintained his wisdom came from, ‘knowing that I know nothing’. His believed knowledge was transferable and life was a quest to seek out that knowledge.