Author Question: Explain the concepts of state of nature and social contract What will be an ideal ... (Read 61 times)

jCorn1234 · **on:** Jul 8, 2018

Explain the concepts of state of nature and social contract

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

The social legitimacy score of the State Fragility Index isolates a country's ________ as the most obvious indicator of state failure to provide adequate health care, sanitation, and clean drinking water.

A. infant mortality rate
B. maternity mortality rate
C. population growth rate
D. incidence rates for fatal diseases in adults
E. incidence rates for communicable diseases

s.meritte · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 8, 2018

Answer to Question 1

State of nature is a term coined by Thomas Hobbes to describe an imaginary time before human beings organized into governments or states for the collective good. Hobbes famously described life in the anarchic state of nature as solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. He assumed that individuals in the state of nature would be most interested in self-preservation, and he reasoned that those who were strong enough to assure self-preservation would then be interested in acquiring power over others. Given this, the weak would have an intense interest in protecting themselves from the strong.
A social contract is a theoretical political agreement in which everyone agrees to limit their ability to do as they please in order to achieve some collective benefit. Enforcing the social contract means consenting to an authority that will keep everyone in line: the Leviathan. For Hobbes the Leviathan should have freedom to use coercion, as long as it keeps the peace between people and recognizes everyone's right to self-preservation.

Answer to Question 2

A