The agreements, in plain English
Hobbes allows a condemned prisoner to fight the executioner. The sovereign may rightfully impose death; the prisoner still has the liberty to resist. Chapter 21 of Leviathan holds these positions together. Absolute political authority does not erase the need to preserve your own life.
Locke allows the people to replace a government that attacks their rights. Rousseau requires citizens to make their own laws, then permits force against those who refuse their common obligations. Each book asks when a decision you oppose can legitimately bind you.
Their contracts ask which rights and duties exist before a government can claim obedience. They supply no evidence of an actual agreement signed by the founders of every state. Rousseau's conjectural history of society belongs chiefly to his earlier Discourse on Inequality.
The five questions below pair my explanations with excerpts from each author. Use the tabs or arrow keys to move. Each excerpt links to its chapter.
Where the text comes from
The fifteen excerpts retain the wording of these digital editions, including Hobbes's older spelling and capitals. An excerpt may start or end within a sentence; read its chapter for the complete argument.
- Hobbes, Leviathan (1651). Gutenberg's transcription follows a Pelican edition prepared from the first edition. Its transcriber describes changes to the presentation of emphasis and marginal notes. Citations use part and chapter.
- Locke, Second Treatise of Government. Published within Two Treatises in 1689, with 1690 on the title page. The quotation text is Gutenberg's edition; ยง refers to Locke's numbered sections.
- Rousseau, The Social Contract (1762). G. D. H. Cole's English translation appeared in 1913. The volume digitized here is dated 1920. Citations give book and chapter. The Discourse on Inequality was published in 1755.
- Interpretation and its limits. The Stanford Encyclopedia entries on Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau discuss resistance, consent and the general will. The Rousseau entry also addresses women's exclusion from sovereignty.
- Locke and colonial slavery. William Uzgalis distinguishes Locke's colonial connections from what his texts justify. Compare James Farr's manuscript study with Holly Brewer's challenge to authorship claims. Carolina's constitutions themselves grant masters absolute authority over enslaved people in article 110.
The card uses the 1651 frontispiece of Leviathan, a crowned figure composed of smaller human figures. The engraving is attributed to Abraham Bosse.