The Social Contract: Hobbes, Locke & Rousseau
Why should anyone obey a government? Three philosophers, three answers — and the revolutions they inspired.
How one event spilled into the next
Leviathan
Hobbes, shaken by civil war, argues for a strong sovereign.
Consent of the governed
Locke says governments exist to protect life, liberty and property.
Ideas become revolutions
The American Declaration echoes Locke's rights to life and liberty.
Every election
Voting is the social contract renewed — power on loan from the people.
Did you know?
Hobbes wrote that life without government would be 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short'.
Locke argued people may overthrow a ruler who breaks their trust — an idea used in 1688 and 1776.
Rousseau opened his book with: 'Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.'
Long before them, the Akan and Yoruba kingdoms could remove ('destool') a ruler who betrayed the people.
Key figures
- Thomas HobbesLeviathan (1651)
- John LockeTwo Treatises of Government (1689)
- Jean-Jacques RousseauThe Social Contract (1762)
Where this comes from
- Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651)
- John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (1689)
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (1762)
Dates marked by tradition or legend are given as approximate.
Other sides of the story
Gathering perspectives…
What do you remember?
Preparing your quiz…
Every border, every spillover
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