Book I

Introductory Note

• Inquiry about establishing just and reliable rule in civil administration based on human nature and laws as they can be made.

• Aim to reconcile what right permits with what interest prescribes, ensuring justice and utility are aligned, not in conflict.

• No need to prove the importance of the subject at the outset.

• Anticipates question about authority to write on politics—not a prince or legislator.

• Writes about politics because not being a ruler, hence speaks on what ought to be done, unlike those who hold power and act or stay silent.

• As a citizen of a free State and member of the sovereign body, even with minimal influence, has the right and duty to inform oneself about public affairs.

• Finds happiness in studying governments by discovering new reasons to love his own country’s government through research.

Chapter I. Subject of the First Book

• Man was born free, yet everywhere he is in chains.

• Many believe themselves masters of others, but are often greater slaves than those they control.

• Question of how this change happened is unknown.

• Seeks to determine what can make this situation legitimate.

• If considering only force and its outcomes, as long as people are compelled and obey, they do well.

• When people shake off the yoke and regain freedom, they do even better.

• If men recover freedom by the same right it was taken away, then either they are justified in reclaiming it or there was no justification for taking it away in the first place.

• The social order is a sacred right and the foundation of all other rights.

• This right does not come from nature but is based on conventions.

• The key question is to understand what these conventions are.

• Must first establish the premise just stated before exploring the conventions.

Chapter II: Primitive Societies

• The earliest and only natural society is the family.

• Children remain attached to their father only as long as they need him for survival.

• Once this need ceases, the natural bond dissolves; children and father become equally independent.

• If the family stays united, it is by choice, not nature; the family is held together by convention.

• Common liberty is a consequence of man’s nature.

• Man’s first law is to attend to his own survival; his first concern is for himself.

• Upon reaching rationality, man becomes his own master.

• The family is the first model of political societies:

  • The leader is like the father.

  • The people are like the children.

  • All are born free and equal, giving up freedom only for their own advantage.

• In a family, the father’s love repays his concern for children; in the State, the pleasure of ruling compensates the leader’s lack of love for the people.

• Grotius denies all human authority is for the benefit of the governed, citing slavery as example.

• Grotius establishes right by fact, favoring tyrants.

• Grotius and Hobbes view mankind divided into groups with masters who devour their subjects like herds of cattle.

• Leaders, as herdsmen of men, are considered superior by nature to their people.

• Emperor Caligula reasoned kings are gods and men are animals, similar to Hobbes and Grotius.

• Aristotle believed men are not naturally equal, with some born to be slaves and others to rule.

• Aristotle was right but confused effect for cause; slaves are born for slavery because slavery existed against nature.

• The first slaves were made by force, and their cowardice kept them in bondage.

• No mention of King Adam or Emperor Noah seriously; the author is a descendant of one of these monarchs but modest about any claim to sovereignty.

• Adam was sovereign while sole inhabitant of his world (like Robinson Crusoe on his island).

• Being sole monarch ensured security from rebellions, wars, or conspirators.

Chapter III: The Right of the Strongest

• The strongest man cannot always be master unless he transforms power into right and obedience into duty.

• The phrase “right of the strongest” is used ironically but claimed as a principle.

• Force is a physical power, and no morality arises from its effects.

• Yielding to force is an act of necessity, not of will; at best, it is prudence, not duty.

• If might makes right, then any stronger force can claim rights by overcoming the previous force.

• When people can disobey without punishment, they can do so legitimately.

• If the strongest is always right, then it is logical to act to become the strongest.

• If obedience is compelled by force, there is no moral duty to obey; if force is removed, obligation ends.

• The term right adds nothing to force; it becomes meaningless here.

• The command to “obey the powers that be” means yielding to force, which is obvious and unavoidable.

• While all power comes from God, so do diseases; this does not forbid seeking a physician.

• If a robber forces you to give money, you are not morally bound to comply when you can avoid it, despite his superior force.

• Concludes that might does not make right, and we are bound to obey only lawful authorities.

• This conclusion returns to the original question about legitimate authority.