Social contract
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In moral and political philosophy, the social contract is an idea, theory, or model that usually, although not always, concerns the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Concep
The original cover of Thomas Hobbes's work Leviathan (1651), in which he discusses the concept of the social contract theory
Thomas Hobbes
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Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher and political theorist, best known for his 1651 book Leviathan, in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered to
Social contract
…starting point for most social contract theories is an examination of the human condition absent any political order (termed the "state of nature" by Thomas Hobbes). In this condition, individuals' actions are bound only by their personal power and conscience, assuming that 'nature' precludes mutually beneficial…
Portrait by John Michael Wright, c. 1669–70
Frontispiece from De Cive (1642)
Thomas Hobbes. Line engraving by William Faithorne, 1668
Tomb of Thomas Hobbes in St John the Baptist's Church, Ault Hucknall, in Derbyshire