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Lectures by William C. Fox · September 9 · 5 hr 13 min

Every Social Contract Theory, Explained.

0:00 Intro 00:40 Hobbes Leviathan 1:23:39 Interlude: Pateman 1:48:12 Locke's State of Nature 2:26:03 Locke's Social Contract 3:02:12 Interlude: Mills 3:24:06 Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality 3:56:34 Rousseau's Social Contract 4:36:28 Why Obey? 4:55:42 ??? Sources: Bertram, Christopher, "Jean Jacques Rousseau", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2024 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.)Fukuyama, Francis. *The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution*. **2011**.Held, David. *Models of Democracy* (Third Edition). **2006**.Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. 1651.Kant, Immanuel. Theory and Practice in Political Right (Against Hobbes) 1793; Metaphysics of Morals, 1797Lessnoff, Michael (ed.) *Social Contract Theory*. **1990**.Lloyd, Sharon A. and Susanne Sreedhar, "Hobbes’s Moral and Political Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2022 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.)Locke, John. Second Treatise. 1690. Peter Laslett edition, Cambridge. 1988 (2012). Mills, Charles W. The Racial Contract. 1997Morris, Christopher W. (ed.). *The Social Contract Theorists: Critical Essays on Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau*. **1999**.Pateman, Carole. The Sexual Contract. 1988. Plato. Crito. After 399BCE. Rauscher, Frederick, "Kant’s Social and Political Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2026 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.)Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. 1971. (2012 ed.)**Ritchie, David George.** *Darwin and Hegel, with Other Philosophical Studies* (includes "Contributions to the History of the Social Contract Theory" and "On the Conception of Sovereignty"). **1893**.**Rousseau, Jean-Jacques.** *The Social Contract* (Complete Text and Introduction). **1762**. Grapevine. Harvard Phil 171: Modern Political Philosophy by Rawls 1984; Lecture 2 for Rawls explicitly including women, and suggesting that further groups/questions of justice behind the veil would be expected in future. Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images. Present Prologue History is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. To hear more, visit

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0:00 Intro

00:40 Hobbes Leviathan

1:23:39 Interlude: Pateman

1:48:12 Locke's State of Nature

2:26:03 Locke's Social Contract

3:02:12 Interlude: Mills

3:24:06 Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality

3:56:34 Rousseau's Social Contract

4:36:28 Why Obey?

4:55:42 ???

Sources:

Bertram, Christopher, "Jean Jacques Rousseau", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2024 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.)Fukuyama, Francis. *The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution*. **2011**.Held, David. *Models of Democracy* (Third Edition). **2006**.Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. 1651.Kant, Immanuel. Theory and Practice in Political Right (Against Hobbes) 1793; Metaphysics of Morals, 1797Lessnoff, Michael (ed.) *Social Contract Theory*. **1990**.Lloyd, Sharon A. and Susanne Sreedhar, "Hobbes’s Moral and Political Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2022 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.)Locke, John. Second Treatise. 1690. Peter Laslett edition, Cambridge. 1988 (2012). Mills, Charles W. The Racial Contract. 1997Morris, Christopher W. (ed.). *The Social Contract Theorists: Critical Essays on Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau*. **1999**.Pateman, Carole. The Sexual Contract. 1988. Plato. Crito. After 399BCE. Rauscher, Frederick, "Kant’s Social and Political Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2026 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.)Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. 1971. (2012 ed.)**Ritchie, David George.** *Darwin and Hegel, with Other Philosophical Studies* (includes "Contributions to the History of the Social Contract Theory" and "On the Conception of Sovereignty"). **1893**.**Rousseau, Jean-Jacques.** *The Social Contract* (Complete Text and Introduction). **1762**. Grapevine.

Harvard Phil 171: Modern Political Philosophy by Rawls 1984; Lecture 2 for Rawls explicitly including women, and suggesting that further groups/questions of justice behind the veil would be expected in future.

Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images.


Present Prologue History is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



To hear more, visit

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