SOSC 1000 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Political Freedom, Playtime, Class Conflict
26 Jul 2014
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Thomas hobbes (1588-1679) contributed to the foundations of social science by identifying what he called a social contract , in which all citizens of a state were subject to. Spurred by the horrific past in which the government inappropriately abused their power over the people, hobbes intended to create a blueprint for the future, with the belief that human inequality was present. Hobbes believed that humans originally acted in what he termed a state of nature in which humans fueled by the drive to accumulate, were in constant competition with one another. He believed that as a response, primitive societies subjected themselves to a social contract out of fear of each other, enabling us to accumulate freely. Thus, government began as a response to the people"s interests. Hobbes believed we have personal sovereignty, the ability to sell our own labor and not be a pawn of the ruling class or government.
