ise and give up my Right of Governing my selfe, to this Man, or to this Assembly of men, on this condition, that thou give up thy Right to him, and Authorise all his Actions in like manner.” (Hobbes, 227) This governing unit was a single individual or group of individuals, established to preside over all contracts, or covenants made. In this capacity, Hobbes, is said to be a Social Contract theorist, in that men must enter into this agreement, to absolve some of freedoms in order to ensure security in all contracts and covenants. Hobbes contends that if one individual refuses to become a member of society, denying his consent to the establishment of a sovereign, then everyone else, who has agreed to the edification of a sovereign, has the right to either force him to join their social contract or they have the right to do harm to him. For if one individual still resides in the state of nature, then he has the right to everything and this by its self threatens each and every individual adhering to the contract. While Hobbes’ premises appear to directly coincide with social contract theory, upon further examination, one can become aware of several glaring flaws in his argument. Within Hobbes’ theory there exists no system of checks and balances, as known today. The Social Contract agreed upon by the ‘citizens’ is not a contract at all, rather a covenant, i.e., the sovereign at anytime is able to govern as he sees fit, therefore there are no guarantees that this chosen sovereign will rule with justice and reason, as he is required to do. Since the Sovereign exists in a state of nature, he too is egoistic, and therefore is capable of ruling in his best interest, rather than in the interest of his subjects. Hobbes allows for no revolution He contends that under a Sovereign all citizens must accept his ruling, for all of his laws, rules, etc., are indirectly derived from the original contract, which the i...
