Social contract theory

Hobbes to Rawls: why should anyone obey the state?

1. Leviathan (chs. 13-30) · Thomas Hobbes
   The original deal: order in exchange for obedience.
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2. Second Treatise of Government · John Locke
   Rights, property and the right to rebel.
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3. The Social Contract · Jean-Jacques Rousseau
   The general will and popular sovereignty.
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4. Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy · John Rawls
   Rawls's own guided tour of the contract tradition.
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5. A Theory of Justice · John Rawls
   The contract reborn behind a veil of ignorance.
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