The Social Contract
The perfect books for the true book lover, Penguin's Great Ideas series features twelve more groundbreaking works by some of history's most prodigious thinkers. Each volume is beautifully packaged with a unique type-driven design that highlights the bookmaker's art. Offering great literature in great packages at great prices, this series is ideal for those readers who want to explore and savor the Great Ideas that have shaped our world. Rousseau's explosive cry for human liberty helped to spark the French Revolution and has haunted our discussions of how we should rule one another ever since—seen as both a blueprint for political terror and as a fundamental statement of democracy.
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What Hacker News says
- > I'm begging project leaders everywhere - please read up on the social contract and the consent of the governed.
I do not need consent as I am not governing anyone like king or president governs.
If someone is using my project they are also not really entitled to anything, beyond what stated in license and similar documents if any.
If they dislike it, they can fork my project and go away.
If someone wants to be entitled to anything, they are free to make a contract and pay for service they desire. But while many are happy to demand nearly noone is willing to help. Or even fork project. Instead they make entitled demand and treat open source developers as servants or slaves or their pets.
No, you are not entitled to your preferred governance model to be used in my software project.
- > Does that mean that I now have to spend my time in the evening doing the "monolithic state apparatus'" job instead of going for a meal with my partner?
Yes. Because we are all responsible. But guess what, you'd be sharing the job with 7 billion other people, so the total workload would be like 5 minutes on a Thursday morning every other month. Could you spare that?
Please read a book called "Leviathan" [1] by Thomas Hobbes and maybe a little of Jean Jacques Rousseau's "The Social Contract" [2] to balance it up.
The state is not your enemy, but also it is not your nanny, there to wipe your bottom and hold your feeding bottle because you "pay taxes".
There's plenty of time for dining out and being a responsible, participating citizen.
- Huh? Why can't people discuss Marx's Capital? Whether or not you agree with his political philosophy, his historical work in Capital is fantastic and I recommend everyone read it at least from an economic history perspective.
> but only one of them offers a critique of the immediate situation
So you're a socialist. The whole point is that not everyone is, or maybe some people _are_ and they need to read the Republic and then Capital to come to that conclusion. Reading groups are all about access to new ideas, they aren't meetups of political groups. But there's so much more. Read Rousseau to understand the Social Contract, Bakunin for anarchy, etc
- Here's my promised list (note it's only a rough guide). As mentioned, I couldn't post earlier versions as they were too big. Even this new rehash (which was already rehashed from much older posts) is too big, so I'll post the first two thirds now and the remainder later. What's missing (compared to my initial attempt) are large sections of my commentary. For additional details use Wiki (these books are well known, hence they all should have entries). Most are out of copyright so you can download them from the I.A. (Internet Archive).
1. The Republic (Book 1 only)—Plato Begin study here; it's an excellent intro to formal argument (v. important), as it's the basis of arguing things out in logical ways. It's a dialogue between the philosopher Socrates and a sophist Thrasymachus about the meaning of justice. It's also fun to read, watching Socrates demolish Thrasymachus' selfish stance of 'every-man-for-himself' in logical sequence is like watching a chess game between a master and a cocky arrogant rookie. The book's passed the test of time, it's still in print nearly two half millennia after it was written. Use Jowett's translation, 1892 ed will do. Jowet's info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Jowett
2. Last Days of Socrates—Plato (Read only if you've time.) It's important in the grand scheme of Greek philosophy and the fact that Plato was affected by the execution of Socrates (his teacher).
3. Nicomachean Ethics—Aristotle (Likely too long now but essential later). Any Aristotle text is worthy of study, he's a giant in the field, his influence is still stamped all over Western culture today. Phil. is incomplete without studying him. The book's deals with ethics and how people should live their lives.
4. Meditations on First Philosophy, & etc.—René Descartes Very influential book. Initially, just read Discourse on the Method, it's about finding the truth, especially the sciences. Here, you'll find the famous phrase "I think therefore I exist/am". It also turns up in the 'related' Principles of Philosophy as Cogito, ergo sum. If you advance further, you'll be taught about breakdowns in reasoning/faulty logic and Descartes isn't immune to them either. One of his logical steps is a misstep and is famous for it—no, I won't tell you what its is.
5. Sir Francis Bacon—Rather than give specific references just get his collected essays (they're all short), select any relevant tiles to read.
6. The Leviathan—Thomas Hobbes. Herein Hobbes addresses statecraft, society, civil power government (actually very important). Written in the aftermath of the English Civil War when such matters were still raw and fluid. BTW, our modern understanding of the word commonwealth comes from Hobbes, the book's full title is: Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil.
7 & 8. Two Treatises of Government | An Essay Concerning Human Understanding—John Locke Locke is an English empiricist Enlightenment philosopher, his ideas had a strong influence on governance structures in the U.S. Locke was an early epistemologist, so his words are well chosen and noted for the fact. He had a very influential effect on later philosophers. The Two Treatises of Government deals with civil society, one's rights, property and contracts. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding deals with empiricism, fundamental ideas, innate concepts and notions such as 'color', 'good' etc. Locke had a great influence on philosophers such as Hume, Kant, Berkeley, Moore and many others.
9. The Prince—Niccolò Machiavelli He gets a bad press although he doesn't deserve it. It's questionable that he was truly 'Machiavellian' himself. Simply, The Prince is sound practical (worldly) advice to a prince about how to conduct oneself and how not be screwed by one's enemies (be wary/aware of likely enemies, avoid situations that could lead to one's dethronement). It's a very short book, just a few hours to read.
10 & 11. On Liberty | Utilitarianism—John Stuart Mill. Both books were highly influential and still are. On liberty deals with a theory of liberty—re liberty itself, also concerning political rulers, tyrants and tyranny. Utilitarianism is about utility, the notion of the greatest good for the greatest number, it still underpins the philosophy behind the running of most modern cities/states today.
12, 13 & 14. A Treatise of Human Nature | An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding | An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals—David Hume It is impossible [I almost said 'almost'] to cover these works in a couple of sentences, so I won't. At least you should know about them and what they are about. Hume is a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher and much more. His works are uncannily modern and prescient nearly 300 years after they were written. He's hugely relevant to philosophy, science and culture in general; a true giant in the field. Like Locke, he was not a believer in innate ideas but rather that they come from experience (like George Berkeley's Tree in the quad arguments). He's the principle founder of philosophical induction and much more.
15. The Social Contract—Jean-Jacques Rousseau This is a great work (and fun to read). The most famous opening sentence of any philosophical work likely ever written, ancient or modern, is at the very beginning of Chapter 1: L'Homme eft né libre, and par-tout il eft dans les fers.—Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Words of great influence and they were in fact so. Those words were much the truth in 1762 and they're still pretty much true nowadays (unfortunately)!
Frontispiece: https://archive.org/details/jducontractsocia00rous/page/n7/m...
Chapter 1: https://archive.org/details/jducontractsocia00rous/page/2/mo...
It's Rousseau's most famous work. He discusses political society and conjectures all people will be free if everyone equally gives up certain rights then all accept the responsibility and obligation thrust upon them in equal measure for their own collective governance. Here, he posits the notion of the The General Will of the Citizenry, it's this that should drive legislative government. The General Will should always hold government to account, especially when it exceeds authority or legitimacy. The Social Contract was revolutionary at the time (1762), only 27 years later the French Revolution took place and Rousseau's ideas, at least in part, were influential in causing the foment that led up to it. It changed governance for the better and today we're its beneficiaries (at least so in democracies).
16. Critique of Pure Reason—Emmanuel Kant I'm hesitant to mention Kant because he can be so obscure. The trouble is that he's so influential. Kant deals with knowledge, reason, human reasoning, and empirical reason. One cannot ignore Kant or does so at his/her peril, (perhaps this book is better left until you've a fuller grasp of the subject).
17. Principia Ethica—G. E. Moore (George Edward) Prof of Phil., Cambridge, UK at turn of the 20th Century. Since it was published in 1903 Principia Ethica has had a huge influence on philosophers and still does (incl. yours truly, it was one of my early texts). ;-) It deals with the notion that certain ideas and concepts cannot reduced into simpler terms because they're already irreducible. 'Good' or 'bad' can't be reduced further as we've no way of measuring them. We know/learn what 'good' means intrinsically, so too 'very good' but we cannot measure the amount of 'good', nor can we measure how much 'very' adds to it. Here's another case: normal sighted people and those who've gone blind later in life know the colour 'yellow' as they've physically seen and perceived it, but no amount of trying will convey that perceived notion to a person blind from birth (they'll learn a conceptual understanding but can't actually perceive color as the sighted do). There's much more to Moore too: moral philosophy, etc. He was a trendsetter for much of 20th C. philosophy.
18. The Problems of Philosophy—Bertrand Russell Russell was one of the last great polymaths and a social reformer, philosopher, logician and much more (I remember him on TV when a kid). The Book discusses past philosophical problems and equates/restates them in his terms. He questions, discusses, countenances and argues over subjects such as 'what we can actually prove', 'what are causal relationships', 'what is knowledge and validation', 'what is their relationship or relative importance when considered along side metaphysics'. He further develops ideas that began (first logically codified) with Locke (or even Bacon) and continued through to Hume, Berkeley etc. He discusses the important notion of the 'sense datum' (along with G.E. Moore, A.J. Ayer, etc.).
Note: 'The Problems of Philosophy' is only a little book but you are rather unlikely to digest it in just one sitting!
I'd strongly recommend both Principia Ethica and The Problems of Philosophy to those studying Quantum Physics, as they deal with what is real and what we know about real things—and things that are seemingly ephemeral but are in fact real (e.g.: zero point energy, virtual particles, potentials). Grasping Russell's solid logic also gives us the mindset to tackle the 'awkward' practice—the philosophically worrying 'logic'—of renormalization and perturbation theory (Yang-Mills etc.) in Quantum Field Theory/QFT and its sibling Quantum Electrodynamics/QED.
(Items 19 through 22 to follow.)
- 1. Most of what you want to know has been covered here and it's pretty good advice.
2. That said, it's not been codified or put into order, so I'll do a tiny list of key/starting points.
3. Remember, every professional philosopher or anyone who as studied the subject at one stage beyond a Reader's Digest summary has his/her pet subject! They will push you in that direction. This is not good for a beginner (but maybe so later).
4. Philosophy has and goes through fashions, avoid obvious ones until you're experienced (stick with traditional stuff to begin with).
5. Try not to study philosophy by yourself. As some others have said, you can skew off course, this may make you set in your ways (which many be difficult if you ever need to go 'mainstream' later).
6. Philosophy has a long and wonderful lineage. Don't short-circuit the old stuff in the hope of bypassing it for newer ideas. The reasons are: (a) that the best books on certain subjects are the oldest ones, (b) many later books will assume you've read and are familiar with the propositions and arguments in these older books (they're longstanding classics full of good stuff that's stood the test of time). In essence, many of these ancient books are prerequisites.
7. Philosophy has many threads, however there are some basic ones that are fundamental. You need to understand these. For example:
(Parts of the list below I've lifted straight from Wiki to save time. However, you don't need all of this stuff listed on this site to begin with (however, I've listed the most essential topics below) https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Philosophy/The...:
7a. Epistemology - The theory of knowledge. You have to lean the 'alphabet' of philosophy before you can do much.
7b. Metaphysics - Wiki defines it as meaning 'after physics'. I prefer the one I was taught which is 'above and beyond physics'. It deals with subjects that cannot be solved rationally by science such as first principles, of being (ontology), what reality is, and such. Even questions such as 'does God exist?'
7c. Logic (formal logic) is essential. This can be a dry and sometimes boring subject but it's absolutely essential if you want to argue, or know the subject of a discussion from its predicate, and best (and most enjoyable) place start is Book 1 of Plato's Republic. No only will you get the structure of formal argument, but this wonderful dialogue between the sophist Thrasymachus and the philosopher Socrates presents one of the most important issues/questions in the world which is What is Justice? Watching Socrates demolish Thrasymachus's 'Every man for himself' argument by formally demolishing every line of it is great stuff (whenever I read it, it sends shivers of excitement down my spine). Remember, this book is about 2.300 years old so it must have something going for it if it's still in philosophy courses! [BTW, probably the best and most well known translation is Benjamin Jowett's version first published in 1881 (there are many copies of it on the net).]
That's only the beginning. In logic, you'll soon progress to formal nomenclature and truth tables and words such as 'vel' and 'existential quantifier' will become familiar to you. Logic is essential as it provide the means to stop you getting sidetracked by junk arguments and sophistry.
7d. Ethics is the study of morality, ethical behaviour, morals, etc., (it's sometimes called moral philosophy). It's the study of right and wrong in human endeavours. In today's world where traditional ethics has gone off the rails, the study of ethics is absolutely essential. The key person to study here is the English philosopher G. E. Moore, and the definitive text is Moore's Principia ethica.
7e. Philosophy of Language. an ancient branch of philosophy which gained prominence in the last century under Wittgenstein. Basically it's concerned with how our languages affect our thought. Classic works include Plato's Cratylus, Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Another book in this class is A.J. Ayer's Language, Truth, and Logic.
7f. Philosophy of Politics/Government : Closely related to ethics, this is a study of government and nations, particularly how they came about, what makes good governments, what obligations citizens have towards their government, and so on. Classic works include Plato's Republic, Hobbes' Leviathan, Locke's Two Treatises, J.S. Mill's On Liberty and Utilitarianism and Rousseau's Social Contract. Sometimes students skip this one but it's essential to know how our governance came about and the meaning of the Social Contract that exists between the Citizenry and Government.
There's much more, but the ones I've listed above are the basic/fundamental essentials.
As mentioned, don't train yourself. Instead, seek out an old fashioned philosophy school that hasn't been corrupted with too many new ideas. As I said, you need to read works such as those directly above—and I mention them again such as Plato's Republic, Hobbes' Leviathan, Locke's Two Treatises, and J.S. Mill's On Liberty and Utilitarianism and Rousseau's Social Contract (these have been in the philosophy corpus for aeons, as they're very substantial works whose propositions are well known and well argued).
(Others, in the rush, have I missed anything major here?)
- An incomplete but useful list of classics might be the list following. You may wish to start with wikipedia entries on them, or other sources, but reading the texts themselves is useful!
Plato: The Republic
Aristotle: Nichomachean Ethics; and Politics
Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan John Locke: Two Treatises of Government
Rousseau: The Social Contract
Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws De Toqueville: Democracy in America
Karl Marx: The Communist Manifesto; and Das Kapital.
JS Mill: On Liberty (the classic Utilitarian Enlightenment work)
John Rawls: A Theory of Justice (A hugely important work on rights and principles of political decisionmaking)
Robert Nozick: Anarchy, State and Utopia (a right-wing / libertarian oriented response to Rawls)
Michael Sandel: Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (critique of liberalism and introducing communitarianism)
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