FINALS HISTORY OF

POLITICAL THEORY

Prepared by Raizza P. Corpuz

1. Hobbes and Spinoza2. The Development of

Constitutionalism3. Vico and Hume4. French Thought in the Late 17th

and 18th Centuries

Section XI to XIV

Political Theorists

1. Hobbes 2. Spinoza 3. Coke (Cook) 4. Harrington 5. Hooker 6. Locke 7. Vico 8. Hume

9. Voltaire 10. Helvetius 11. Holbach 12. Bossuet 13. Montesquieu 14. Fenelon

HOBBES and SPINOZA

Secularism: no theological justification

Skepticism: reason and individual opinion

Man is the creator of his society

Believes in the ultimate power of the people

Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679) 

Wrote Leviathan, explaining the creation and preservation of an authoritative government  

a. Within Leviathan, Hobbes discusses the nature of man, the state of nature, the social contract, the laws of nature, political power, liberty and law, and the sovereign power  

b. It is the most logical, systematic treatise in British political theory 

c. Concerns the structure of society.  He argues for a social contract and rule by a sovereign.

Hobbes neglected the concept of sovereignty -He rejects Cartesian dualism and believes in the mortality of soul.

-rejects free will in favor of determinism, a determinism which treats freedom as being able to do what one desires.

-He says that men in a state of nature, that is a state without civil government, are in a war of all against all in which life is hardly worth living.

-The way out of this desperate state is to make a social contract and establish the state to keep order and peace.

-Because of his view of how nasty life is without the state, Hobbes subscribes to a very authoritarian version of the social contract.

-He believed that humans were basically selfish creatures who would do anything to better their position. -People should not be trusted to make their own decisions.

-despite his distrust of democracy, Hobbes believed that a diverse group of representatives presenting the problems of the common person would prevent a king from being cruel and unfair.

The Nature of Man

He believed that the state power was a “mortal god to which we owe under the immortal God our peace and defense” 

Man desires power overall; riches, knowledge and honor are but different forms of power

That which men desire, they are also said to love; and to hate those things for which they aversion. Because the constitution of a man's body is in continual mutation, it is impossible that all the same things should always cause in him the same reaction      

The passions that most of all cause the difference of wit are the desire of power, of riches,  of knowledge, and of honour  

     All of these can be reduced to the first, desire of power, for

the rest are but several sorts Of power  

There is a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceases only in death      

This is not only because man wants more and more power, but also because he cannot      assure the power and means to live well     

Kings, whose power is greatest, turn their endeavors to assuring power at home by laws,      and abroad by wars    

   Competition of riches, honor, command, or other power, inclined to contention, enmity, and war:  because the way of one competitor, for attaining his desire, is to kill, subdue supplant, or repel the other 

The State of Nature All men are created equal 

3 causes of quarrel: Competition, Diffidence (Quietness), Glory 

Defines war as: the time during which man lives without a common power , All other times are peace

    Nature made men equal, in the faculties of body and mind; as that though there be found one man stronger in body or quicker in mind than another   

For as to the strength of body, the weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest, either by secret machination, or by confederacy with others that are in the same danger as himself   Therefore if any two men desire the same thing,

which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies; and in the way to their end endeavor to destroy, or subdue one  another  

     And because of this, there is no way for any man to secure himself       There are three principal causes of quarrel  

     The first is competition       The second is safety  

     The third is glory or reputation 

The Social Contract All men should be able to live without anything

impeding their natural liberties The right of nature is the liberty each man has to use

his own power as he chooses, for      preservation of his own life 

Liberty is the absence of external impediments    

   A Law of Nature is a general rule, found out by reason, by which a man is forbidden to do, which is destructive to his life, or takes away the means of preserving it       One general rule of reason is "that every man

ought to endeavor peace as far as he has  hope of obtaining it; and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek, and use all helps and advantages of war"      

The mutual transferring of rights, is that which men call Contract.

Laws of Nature

We are obligated to transfer our natural liberties to our rights Men perform their covenants made

Men will follow through with their  promises The laws of nature are immutable and eternal;

for injustice, ingratitude, arrogance, pride, iniquity, acceptation of persons and the rest, can never be made lawful;  For it can never be that war shall preserve life, and peace destroy it

Political Power

Greatest of human powers is: that which is compounded by the powers of many men 

He states the laws of nature: Justice, Equity, Modesty, Mercy And do unto others what you would have them do unto you 

He details a sovereign and a commonwealth 

He supports monarchal sovereignty because it keeps society stable

       The greatest of human powers, is that which is compounded of the powers of most men, united by consent, in one person, natural, or civil, that has the use of all their powers      depending on his will;  such is the power of the commonwealth      

A commonwealth is when a multitude of men are made one person, when they are by one      man, or one person, represented      

The only way to erect such a common power, as may be able to defend the multitude from      the invasion of foreigners, and the injuries of one another, and thereby secure them, is to confer all their power and strength upon one man, or upon an assembly of men      

The commonwealth has power over everything      

A sovereign power, whether monarchy or commonwealth is basically infallible     

The care of the sovereign is to make good laws  

1. A good law does not mean a just law, for all laws are just 2.   A good law is one that is needful, for the good of the people       Therefore a law that is not needful is not a good law       *** A law may be conceived to be good, when it is done for the benefit of the sovereign;  though it be not necessary for the people;      The good of the sovereign and people cannot be separated  

Liberty and Law States that subjects should remain faithful until the

sovereign loses the power to protect his subjectsLiberty defined as: “A freeman is he that in those things which by his strength

and wit he is able to do, is not hindered to do what he has a will to”

e.g the TRAFFIC LIGHTThe movie Lord of the Flies (William Golding)The question; How do you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?Material World and Mental World : all that we can perceive is merely the internal activity of our own mindThe nature of Conflict : social strife follows from the inherently subjective character of moral convictions

The Sovereign Power Sovereign’s power should be supreme 

All subjects must follow civil laws  Civil law: Those rules which the

commonwealth hath commanded him, by word, writing, to make use at, for the distinction of right, and wrong; that is to say, of what is contrary, and what is not contrary to their rule

Subjects have to follow the rules of the sovereign in order to have a stable society 

Leviathan 

The basis for agreement between men was not their common possession of reason  

Any valid explanation of society and government must take account of the real nature of man     

Man was the creator of his own society      

Man was motivated by his appetites, desires, fear, and self-interest, seeking pleasure and avoiding pain   

Since the powers men had were essentially equal, there was a natural strife as men sought to satisfy their desires      

To escape this intolerable situation, where every individual lived for himself, and to obtain peace and order, men agreed to form a society      

Men surrendered their rights of self-assertion in order to set up a power capable of enforcing its authority     

  They gave up their rights to defend themselves, made a social contract and created a sovereign order was secured by this sovereign 

Summary English Philosopher Influenced by the English Civil War & Charles I Execution 1651 – Published Leviathan (Sea Monster) Argued that natural law made absolute monarchy the

best form of gov’t Humans were natural selfish and violent People couldn’t make their own decisions If they did life would be “nasty, brutish, and short” Only a strong ruler (Leviathan) could give people

direction

Thus, Leviathan was written during the English Civil

War; much of the book is occupied with demonstrating the necessity of a strong central authority to avoid the evil of discord and civil war.

In particular, the doctrine of separation of powers is rejected: the sovereign must control civil, military, judicial and ecclesiastical powers. 

Right diagnosis - wrong solution.

BARUCH SPINOZA

RATIONALISM

The doctrine that knowledge is acquired by reason without resort to experience.

Spinoza was no stranger to religious persecution.

As is well known, he was himself excommunicated from the Jewish community in Amsterdam in 1656.

Spinoza's Political Treatise is patterned to Machiavellian insights and recommendations.

Spinoza mimics Machiavelli's critique of utopian theorizing, elevating statesmen over philosophers

Focused on constitutional theorizing The concept of naturalism is the basis of

Spinoza Political Theory

He exclude the transcendental conception of GOD imagine the power of God to be like the authority of royal majesty, and the power of nature to be like a force and impetus

but IT IS NOT of is not a transcendent legislator, God is nature itself.

Naturalism as Political Theory Spinoza's naturalism entails that all claims of

entitlement deriving from God's will are unfounded. humans act contrary to nature when they act

contrary to the prescripts of right reason. Spinoza attacks this view, according to which “the

ignorant violate the order of nature rather than conform to it; they think of men in nature as a state within a state [imperium in imperio]”

It is precisely this position that Spinoza undercuts when he writes in the Ethics that “the laws and rules of Nature…are always and everywhere the same”.

“Might Makes Right” Spinoza rejects the natural law tradition confusing term if he is redefining right in

terms of power, offering a new normative standard; rather, it is intended as a denial of any transcendental standard of justice

Spinoza puts forth his naturalistic program, beginning with the premise that the state, like everything else, is a natural thing (res naturalis), governed by the laws of nature

Summary: The true purpose of the state is in fact

freedom Authority in sacred matters belongs

wholly to the sovereign powers Supreme master of your own mind

Theologian Contribution to Political Thought

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising the Church of England and churches which are historically tied to it or hold similar beliefs, worship practices and church structures (was coined to describe the common religious tradition of these churches)

The Anglican view of politics, when the world was supposedly secularizing, was that their particular religion had to be protected, and that meant the people had some power over the man who would lead them.

The power of Parliament over the king, in extreme situations, was effected by Anglicans.

In the modern world, we consider it a basic right to choose our rulers, but we would not have it without the indignance of faithful Anglicans who were involved in politics –Bryan (Zerys), expert in Religion and Theology

SIR EDWARD COKE (1552-1634)

He believes in the great constitutional importance

The Concept of ProhibitionsThe English legal system included not only common law courts but church courts (of which High Commission was the most powerful)  and Chancery (a court of equity). Coke struggled for jurisdiction (and fees)

with these other courts, and objected to the High Commission's use of the oath ex officio (which infringed common law rules against self-incrimination).

The most important of the common law theorists was Sir Edward Coke

He was widely recognized by contemporaries as the greatest living lawyer.

he was steadily promoted, becoming Solicitor General in 1592, Attorney General in 1593, and Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1606; in 1613 he was transferred to the Chief Justiceship of the King's Bench, which was technically a promotion but meant a drop in salary..

Custom, common law and constitutionalism

Common lawyers were important in English society - they made up a large proportion of those sitting in the House of Commons.

Sir Edward Coke and many other common lawyers shared a political ideology based on the notion that ancient custom (as interpreted by common lawyers) was superior to the king and to all other forms of law.

Common law thinking was a largely conservative ideology designed to protect the status quo from the intrusion of government and was as opposed to doctrines of popular sovereignty as to those of royal absolutism

His Stance….. For a man’s house is his castle, et domus sua

cuique tutissimum refugium"[and his home his safest refuge].“

Magna Carta is such a fellow that he will have no sovereign." (another and perhaps more accurate version has "no saving," but since he was discussing a proposal to make a "saving" or exception to Magna Carta in favor of the king's sovereign power, the difference in sense is slight).

Coke's frequent opposition and general audacity exasperated James, who believed that the King's Chief Justices should share the King's interests, and in 1616 he dismissed Coke from the judiciary.

Coke continued to oppose many crown policies - he was imprisoned after the Parliament of 1621, and took a major part in drawing up the Petition of Right.

Common law theory

Common Law was essentially time-honored customs. Even Magna Carta was viewed as a codification and confirmation of earlier customs rather than original legislation.

saw these customs as essentially unchanged from the earliest times;

It was accepted that Parliament could add to or amend inconvenient customs, but some common lawyers thought that even parliamentary legislation  should be ignored by judges if it directly contravened custom on fundamental points.

Common law was superior to statute because many generations of English people had found it useful.

Common law was also essentially rational

Its defenders insisted that common law reflected essentially reasonable decisions.

Because common law combined custom and reason, special training was needed to understand its logic or maxims, what Coke called "artificial reason".

common law thinking was deployed to limit royal power - and particularly to protect property and individual rights.

The most central contention was that common law protected the freedom of English people from laws and taxes to which they had not consented.

Common lawyers were in some ways very conservative - they wished to enforce customary limitations on royal power, not to invent new ones, and certainly not actively to resist the monarch.

Yet the common law maxim rex nihil potest nisi quod jure potest (the king can do nothing except what he can do by law; the king can do no wrong) was applied to mean that the king's personal orders should be disobeyed if they were contrary to law.

The customs officers who tried to collect extra-parliamentary customs duties in 1629 were prosecuted by the House of Commons despite the fact that they had clearly been acting on royal orders..

RICHARD HOOKER

LAWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY

RICHARD HOOKER March 1554, Heavitree, Exeter, Devon,

England John Hooker (chamberlain of Exeter)

John Jewel, bishop of Salisbury

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Richard became a fellow of the society (1577).

Edwin Sandys, bishop of London, ordained him as a priest on August 14, 1579.

RICHARD HOOKER preacher at Paul’s Cross (1581);

offended the Puritans “Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity”

(March 1586) married Jean Churchman (1588) November 3, 1600, Bishopsbourne,

Kent

LAWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY(Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie)

best known work of Richard Hooker

Hooker’s major work

FOCAL SUBJECT: proper governance of churches

The corporal metaphor

LAWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY(Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie)

The Laws of Reason Reason is the director

of man’s Will.

The voice of Nature is but God’s instrument.

Laws are investigable by Reason, without the help of Revelation.

No man can ever reject these Laws.

Civil Society We seek communion and

fellowship with others in order to supply our defects and imperfections.

Two Foundations:a) A natural inclinationb) Law of a Commonwealth

(common welfare; the public good) – the very soul of a politic body

“… to live by one man’s will became the cause of all men’s misery.”

THE COMMONWEALTH

OF OCEANA

By JAMES HARRINGTON

• 3 January 1611 – 11 September 1677

• English political theorist of classical republicanism

• best known for his controversial work, The Commonwealth of Oceana (1656)

2 Kinds of Government : De Jure and De Facto

The Commonwealth of Oceana on 1656. This work was an exposition on an ideal constitution, designed to facilitate the development of a utopian republic.

De Jure

It is the empire of the laws and not of men.

Legitimate / Legal

Product of a legal process

De Facto

It is the empire of men and not of laws.

Illegitimate / Illegal

Force, violence or intimidation

Principles of Government

Internal or the Goods of the Mind

Natural or Acquired Virtues

Answers authority

• External or the Goods of Fortune

o Riches

o Power or Empire

Components

Element of power in state is property.

Executive power

Highlights

Agrarian law

Election through balloting

Equality

Equal Commonwealth

3 orderso the senate debating and proposing

o the people resolving

o the magistracy executing by an equal rotation through the suffrage of the people given by the

ballot.

Equal Agrarian

A perpetual law establishing and preserving the balance of dominion by such a distribution.

JOHN LOCKE’S POLITICAL THEORY

He used many of his ideas concerning epistemological stance to back up his political theories. 

Reading different articles, writings about him states that many writer thought that he contradicts himself in his work.

Knowledge was not innate nor revealed, nor resting on authority. 

*  Any state is better than anarchy. *  Power comes from the people, rulers were agents acting in the common good. *  Political rights are not given to the property less. *  Men being by nature all free, equal, and independent, no one can be put out of this estate and subjected to the political power of another without his consent

The State of Nature Naturally all men are in a state of

equality; without subordination or subjection  

They should have the freedom to do their actions and use their possessions as they see fit   -no person should have more than another  

It states that everyone is equal and they have to follow the same rules as everyone else

Property  

Every man has the right to own his own property      *the labour of his body and of his hands are properly his  

Men can own land but it has limits also      *as much land as a man can work himself is his  

"Nothing was made by God for man to spoil or destroy"  

Civil Society  

People in the society have liberty but there cannot be liberty without laws.  

Liberty is acting accordingly to a man’s own will and instructed by laws.  

that people in society have liberty but there cannot be liberty without laws

Social Contract  

In order for man to live in society together, all the men must agree live by the same rules. 

-The original contract is agreed on during the first entering into the community.  -A son doesn't necessarily receives his father's possessions unless he is part of this community.  

in order for man to live in society, he must live by the same rules as everyone else

The End of Society and Government  

Fears and continuous danger makes man want to enter a government, although he is free  

The legislature is directed to carry out the laws in order to secure safety peace of the people  The Legislature Power  -The legislature is the supreme power of the commonwealth but it has limitations as well.  - the government that protects them, in order to keep it running  -The society must pay taxes pay taxes. ( a majority consent)  

The Separation of Power  

-The making and executing the laws needs to be separate because there is much power in the hands of man to have power over the people. (executive, federative, and legislative)  

the power of the people -If society is unhappy with the legislature, they can reform it  

The Possibility of Resistance 

Once a government or legislature is established a society there will always be a need for it.  -The commonwealth or the people who give it form, life, and liberty.  -The government may dissolve is the supreme executive power neglects and abandons the governmental laws.    

Summary English Philosopher Inspired by the Glorious Revolution 1690 – published Two Treatises on

Government People shaped by their experiences not

natural violent All people had 3 natural rights – life,

liberty, & property People are born with a “tabula rasa” or

clean slate. Purpose of gov’t = serve the people –

people have the right to overthrow the gov’t if it is not serving its purpose

Social Contract – agreement b/w ruler & people

DAVID HUME: INTEREST AND POLITICAL OBLIGATION

“… it is from the selfishness and confined generosity of man, along with the scanty provision nature has made for his wants, that justice derives its origin…”

David Hume- writer- economist- historian- philosopher

Major Philosophical Works:Treatise of Human NatureEnquiries Concerning Human UnderstandingPolitical Discourses

DAVID HUME Wrote no systematic work on politics but

his essays an philosophical works are full of valuable insights into political problems.

Foundation of science of politics: political behavior through empirical statements and logical reasoning.•“ All rules were made to deal

with human needs.”•Hume attacked the contract theory and believed that the society is a result of convenience, needs, and passion of men.

OPINION

Opinion of Right

Right to Power

Right to Propert

y

Opinion of

Interest

By Opinion of Interest, I understand the sense of general advantage reaped from the government together with the persuasion that the government established is equally advantageous.

Secondary Principles of Government:

Self- interest

Fear

Affection

A government may endure even though the balance of power and balance of property do not coincide.

A Convention entered into by all members of the society can bestow stability on the possession of others and leave everyone in peaceable enjoyment of what he may acquire.

Justice takes rise from human conventions.

Qualities of the mind:

SelfishLimited generosity

“If men were supplied with everything in the same abundance, justice and injustice would be unknown.”

-HUME

DUTIES OF A RULERFrancois Fenelon

Who is Fenelon? Born in 1651. Archbishop of Cambrai and tutor

to Duke of Burgundy, grandson of King Louis XIV and second in line to the throne.

The Adventure of Telemachus

A novel set in a fictional Homeric World.Published in 1699. Written for his royal pupil. Telemachus is an example of “specula principium” or mirrors for princes. While Telemachus is in search of his father Ulysses,

the young prince is constantly lectured about his future duties as sovereign of Ithaca by Minerva, who has taken the human form of Mentor, and whose alter ego is not Minerva but Fenelon himself.

While recounting Telemachus travel, Fenelon takes ample time to denounce the evil of luxury and war.

Luxury & War

•If people are allowed to live in abundance, they will stop working and become proud, undisciplined and apt to revolt.•Two grievances in government: (1) unjust and violent authority assumed by kings; (2) luxury, which corrupts manners.•The envy and restlessness associated with luxury seem to increase the chance of an actual outbreak of armed conflict.

What the authority of the King consisted? Absolute authority over the subject but

absolute authority of the LAW over him. LAW – the wisdom and equity on one shall be

the happiness of many, not the slavery of many shall gratify the luxury and pride of one.

Power to do good is unlimited but restrained from doing evil.

He should indulge himself less in pleasure and should be less disposed to the pride of life than any other man. He should be distinguished from the rest of mankind by superior wisdom and heroic virtue and not by wealth or variety of enjoyments.

What the authority of the King consisted?

Abroad: the defender of his country by commanding his armies.

At home: the judge of his people, distributing justice among them, improving morals and increasing felicity.

To public he owes all his time, attention and love. He deserves dignity only in proportion as he gives up his private enjoyment for the public good.

The proof of abilities in a King as a supreme governor does not consist in doing everything himself; an idle hope.

What the authority of the King consisted? Think, to form great designs, make choice of men

properly qualified to carry them into execution; his abilities will appear in the conceptions of his designs and choice of instruments.

The perfection of supreme government consists in the governing of those that govern. The King should correct, encourage and raise them, and keep them under his eyes and hands.

A King that busies himself in doing the duties of his servants is always determined by present appearances and never extends his views to futurity.

The King is he who meditates, looks forward to the future and back to the past, sees relative proportions, arranges all things in order, and whose mind is night and day that anticipates all events.

Prepared by Raizza P. Corpuz © 2015

Francois-Marie Arouet – known as Voltaire

French Philosopher Wrote many novels, plays, letters,

& essays that brought him fame Strong dislike of Catholic Church Blame the church for keeping

knowledge from people to keep its power

Freedom of Religion Natural Law runs the world

BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Spirit of Laws

1. Laws are relative to the particular country. 2. Laws cannot be absolute: 3. Laws cannot be universal State: depends on the climate; climate affects

laws. Laws: are relative to particular government

cannot be universalcannot be absolute

Climate- affects our customs, laws, and religion

Epikea Dura Lex Sed Lex 

Epikea – Spirit of the LawLex – Strictly; letter of the law

“the law maybe harsh but it is a law”.

Basic Principle: Justice

  *Universal but different application *Laws always vary to one country to the another All laws depend on morality- based ethics of morality- do good avoid evil “Depends upon the definition”Ex: Abortion. Though shall not kill : U.S. & Phil.  General Principle the SameEx. “Though shall not kill” Laws – depends / differ from 1 country to one

another. 

Prepared by Raizza P. Corpuz © 2015

Inspired by the Glorious Revolution & John Locke, Greek Philosophers

French Philosopher 1748 – published – Spirit of Laws Separation of Power – equal divide power

among the 3 Branches of gov’t Executive (Monarch) enforce laws,

Legislative (Parliament) makes laws, Judicial (Courts) interpret laws

By separating these powers, gov’t could not become too powerful – checks and balances

Prepared by Raizza P. Corpuz © 2015

Montesquieu’s 3 branches in Action

Political Theory It all started as a concept but it will

always be a remarkable step of action

There is no end if there is no beginning and there is no foundation without the abstraction of theoretical pursuit.

Keep on theorizing, keep the essence of critical thinking….

References GPT Michael Curtis

Some slides excerpt from FS Students Batch 2017

Political Theories