Philosophy › Section K · Political philosophy › Topic K.3
Political legitimacy, the social contract, and duty
Governments tax, imprison and send people to war, and most of us never agreed to any of it. What, if anything, gives a state the right to rule, and when, if ever, may a citizen refuse to obey?
In this topic
- Why obey?
- Hobbes: escaping the war of all against all
- Locke: government to protect rights
- Rousseau: the general will
- Worked example: testing tacit consent
- Other grounds of obligation
- Whose contract?
- Duty and disobedience
- Worked example: a speed limit you think is too low
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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