🟣 [PSC 209] POLITICAL THEORY II.

Week Week 1

Notes COURSE OUTLINE — 240117.

🟣 COURSE DESCRIPTION.
a study of modern political thought after Machiavelli; selected contemporary political
thinkers.

🟣 TOPICS.
UNIT I — PHILOSOPHY OF JOHN BODIN. 4.5 hours.
1. Bodin and his times.
2. Bodin’s work: Six Books on the State.
3. sovereignty.
4. the sovereign.
5. state vs. government.
6. forms of government.
7. religion and social peace.
8. war.
9. revolution.
VALUE FOCUS: awe to sovereign authority.

UNIT II — PHILOSOPHY OF THOMAS HOBBES. 4.5 hours.

1. Hobbes and his times.
2. Hobbes’ work: Leviathan.
3. nature of human being.
4. state of nature.
5. social contract.
6. sovereign power.
7. right to resist.
8. forms of government.
9. religion.
10. law.
VALUE FOCUS: inviolability of the right to life.

UNIT III — PHILOSOPHY OF JOHN LOCKE. 4.5 hours

1. Locke and his times.
2. Locke’s work: Two Treatises of Government.
3. nature of human being.
4. state of nature.
5. social contract.
6. civil government and private property.
7. forms, powers, and limits of government.
8. government as a fiduciary trust.
9. right to resist.
VALUE FOCUS: respect for right to property.

UNIT IV — PHILOSOPHY OF BARON DE-MONTESQUIEU. 4.5 hours.

1. Montesquieu and his times.
2. Montesquieu’s work: The Spirit of the Laws.
3. law.
4. spirit and letter of the law.
 5. democracy.
6. liberty.
VALUE FOCUS: obedience to letter and spirit of the law.

UNIT V — PHILOSOPHY OF JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU. 4.5 hours.

1. Rousseau and his times.
2. Rousseau’s work: The Social Contract.
3. nature of primitive man.
4. state of nature.
5. civil society.
6. social contract.
7. sovereignty and general will.
8. citizen-legislator.
9. government as agent of general will.
10. forms of government.
VALUE FOCUS: moral liberty and submission to general will.

UNIT VI — PHILOSOPHY OF IMMANUEL KANT. 3.0 hours.

1. Kant and his times.
2. Kant’s work: Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals,
Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose,
and Perpetual Peace.
3. moral law and justice.
4. morality and freedom.
5. categorical imperative.
6. state.
7. republicanism and alliance of states.
8. right of resistance.
9. perpetual peace.
VALUE FOCUS: categorical imperative.

UNIT VII — PHILOSOPHY OF EDMUND BURKE. 3.0 hours.

1. Burke and his times.
2. Burke’s work: Reflections on the Revolutions in France.
3. French Revolution and British Constitution.
4. representation of property.
5. government is complex.
6. sentiment and logic in politics.
7. religion, society, and politics.
8. reform and revolution.
9. revolution and military despotism.
VALUE FOCUS: statesmanship or true conservatism.

UNIT VIII — PHILOSOPHY OF JEREMY BENTHAM. 3.0 hours.

1. Bentham and his times.
2. Bentham’s work: Principles of Morals and Legislation.
3. principle of utility.
4. pleasure and pain.
VALUE FOCUS: adherence to principle of utility.

UNIT IX — PHILOSOPHY OF ALEXIS TOCQUEVILLE. 4.5 hours.

1. Tocqueville and his times.
2. Tocqueville’s work: Democracy in America.
3. democracy.
4. democratic concept of equality.
5. principle of popular sovereignty.
6. tyranny of the majority or democratic despotism.
7. defects of democracy.
8. the coming era of world democracy.
VALUE FOCUS: insistence on democracy and respect for majority.
UNIT X — PHILOSOPHY OF KARL MARX & FRIEDRICH ENGELS. 4.5 hours.
1. Marx, Engels, and their times.
2. Marx and Engel’s work: The Communist Manifesto.
3. bourgeois and proletarians.
4. proletarians and communists.
5. socialism and communism.
VALUE FOCUS: respect for human labor.

🟣 GRADING SYSTEM.
GRADE COMPONENTS WEIGHT

midterm and final examinations. 40%

quizzes. 30%

group reports/presentations. 10%

essay/personal philosophy. 10%

participation in class and service activity. 10%

TOTAL 100%
U1. JOHN BODIN.
Week Week 1

Notes VALUE FOCUS: awe to the sovereign authority —

240117 / 240118.

🟣 BODIN: HIS TIMES & WORK.

● who is John Bodin?
○ (1530—1596), French political philosopher born in Angens.
○ part of a group called the Politiques — group of administrators, lawyers, and
publicists that sought to stem the tide of fanaticism that was ruining the nation.
■ were Catholic, but unwilling to sacrifice the interests of the state to the
Roman Catholic Church.
■ initially had the preference for religious unity in order for political unity to be
furthered, however came to accept Protestantism to avoid the risk of
permanent civil war.
● what was the historical context of Bodin’s philosophy?
○ unity in France was threatened by religious conflict — religious division engendered
by the Reformation, along with economic issues which made reconciliation even
more difficult.
● what is the significance of Bodin’s The Six Books on the State?
○ served as the first systematic and clear conception of sovereignty, expressing the
need for a strong government that makes contented and secure citizenship
possible.
■ Bodin’s state is strong but not aggressive, monarchial but not tyrannical.

🟣 SOVEREIGNTY.
● what is sovereignty?
○ “the absolute and perpetual power of the state, that is, the greatest power to
command.”
○ what are its elements?
■ (1) absolute — does not recognize any legal rival.
(2) perpetual — does not disappear at the dissolution of the government.
(3) inalienable — cannot be taken away or shared.
○ what “power” of the state does sovereignty refer to?
■ the power to command, by laying down law, and the power to enforce its
will, by imposing sanctions against violations of such laws.
● what is the essence of sovereignty?
○ the making of general laws.
● what are the two main threats to sovereignty?
○ (1) universal church.
(2) empire.
■ both were denied interference in any of the state’s affairs.
 ● what is the difference between sovereignty and political power?
○ sovereignty is a legal status — in which it is sovereign if it has internal sovereignty
(able to impose authority within its own people) and external sovereignty (not
subject to the authority of another state).
■ legal independence is underlined, not factual independence, because even
if a state is dependent on another militarily, economically, and politically, it is
still sovereign so long as it is not under the legal authority of another.

🟣 THE SOVEREIGN.
● considering the essence of sovereignty, who then is the sovereign?
○ since the essence of sovereignty is the making of general laws, the sovereign is
then the lawmakers, or who he who makes laws.
■ he retains more power than he gives away and is never divested of his right
to command and appoint.
○ is the sovereign absolute?
■ he is absolute to an extent — his absoluteness is only in relation to human
laws. he is not subject to laws of his own making, or the laws of his
predecessors.
○ what are its limitations?
■ (1) divine and natural law — doing so would be high treason against God
because human laws are just pontifications of such.
■ (2) does not have legal authority to alter the rules of succession to the
crown.
(3) has no legal right to alienate the public domain.
(4) has no right to levy taxes without the consent of his subjects —
“taxation without representation.”
(5) has no right to deprive a subject his property without “just cause.”
● the sovereign is still bound by the fundamental laws of the realm
(legis imperii) on succession and public domain.
○ why are these limitations necessary?
■ because violating such rights without due process destroys one of the main
purposes of the state — that is, the protection of property and family.

🟣 STATE VS. GOVERNMENT.

● what is the difference between state and government?
○ the sovereign state does not disappear or change when a government disappears or
changes. the government serves only as the agency for sovereignty to enact power.
■ likewise, whoever has the power to give also has the power to take back.
○ the state is “a lawful government, with sovereign power, of different households and
their common affairs.”
■ lawful government — it is the law that differentiates a state from any other
group or institution.
■ what is the difference between laws and contracts?
● (a) law — depends on who possesses sovereignty, and who can
bind all his subjects but cannot bind himself.
● (b) contract — mutual obligation between the sovereign and subject
that binds them reciprocally, and cannot be altered except by
mutual consent.
 ● what is the foundation of the state?
○ good faith. faith inheres the promises of legitimate conventions.
● what are the functions of the state?
○ (1) constituent functions — obligatory in order to control and regulate the people.
■ such as preparing and keeping its defense because if a state fails to protect
its authority over its territory, it loses its sovereignty.
○ (2) ministrant functions — only when funds and resources are available, at the
pleasure and priority of the executive.

🟣 FORMS OF GOVERNMENT.
● what are the forms of government that Bodin described?
○ (1) monarchy, (2) aristocracy, (3) democracy
● what is Bodin’s preferred form of government?
○ monarchy — because the unity and indivisibility of authority seem to be best
safeguarded in one man.
○ what are the types of monarchy?
■ (a) legitimate monarchy — attained through royal descent or conquest,
justified by lawful war.
● if the monarch is legitimate, the subjects have no right to encroach
on his honor or life, even if he has committed misdeeds.
■ (b) illegitimate monarchy — attained without the rightful claim of election,
descent, or lawful war.
● the illegitimate monarch is a tyrant, and it is lawful for the subjects
to kill him, regardless if he is virtuous or villainous, because he has
put himself outside the law by illegally seizing power.
○ if a tyrant surrenders, thus recognizing sovereignty, he may
be tried in court.

🟣 RELIGION & SOCIAL PEACE.

● what is Bodin’s philosophy on religion?
○ he accepts religious diversity, because if a ruler forces a single religion unto a
country divided into various churches, it would lead to instability.

🟣 WAR.
● why is war abhorred?
○ because it is destructive of the very purpose of human associations. war is only
justified to repel aggression. it is only in peace that a state can flourish.

🟣 REVOLUTION.
● what are the causes of revolution?
○ (1) inequality of property — excessive wealth of few and extreme poverty of many
○ (2) equality of property — equalization of property subverts the state by destroying
legitimate expectations and conventions, and the foundation of the state which is
good faith.
U2. THOMAS HOBBES.
Week Week 1 Week 2

Notes VALUE FOCUS: inviolability of the right to life —

240119 / 240120 / 240121

🟣 HOBBES: HIS TIMES AND WORK.

● who is Thomas Hobbes?
○ [1588 — 1679] English political philosopher, who was antiparliamentarian and
antidemocratic.
● what was the historical context of his philosophy?
○ the greatness of England in the 17th century, with its turning point marked by the
Puritan Revolution and two civil wars. three fundamental issues were being fought at
the time:
■ (a) religious liberty — the Church of England was criticized for being a state
church, and rejected by being too close to Roman Catholicism.
■ (b) constitutional — who was sovereign, Parliament or the King?
● the parliamentary party won because it commanded superior
economic and financial resources, coming from distinguished
aristocratic or landowning families.
● the doctrine of the divine rights of kings collapsed at the execution
of Charles I.
■ (c) social and economic — to what extent should the merchants, financiers,
lawyers, and tradesmen be included in the governing classes of the nation?
● what is the significance of Hobbes’ Leviathan?
○ served as the first general theory of politics in the English language. his observation
that the fear of death is an important motive in creating social order is profound —
evidenced by the hesitations and relative peace between the US and USSR in the
Cold War.

🟣 NATURE OF HUMAN BEING.

● what is the nature of human beings?
○ the basic equality of men — men are naturally equal in mind and body.
■ even the weakest have the capacity to kill the strongest by secretly slaying
him or working with others. and prudence is a matter of time and experience
that can be acquired by all men.
● furthermore, the fact that all men think that they have more wisdom
than everyone else is another testament to how all men are equal.
■ this equality is also the source of trouble and misery for men — if two men
equally desire the same thing, which they cannot obtain, they become
enemies and seek to destroy each other.
● what is reason according to Hobbes?
○ integral part of man which is the essential faculty that distinguishes him from
animals.
● what then inclines men to peace?
 ○ fear of death — the passion that inclines men to peace, due to brutal competition in
the state of nature of perpetual war.
■ reason shows a way out — to accept the principle that one must not do unto
others what they do not want to done unto themself. however, reason may
not be enough, and man can learn prudence and moderation from his fear of
death. his desire for power may prevent this from happening.
○ thus, there needs a sovereign authority for the enforcement of peace.

🟣 STATE OF NATURE.
● what is the state of nature?
○ the condition of war — “ever man against every man,” as a result of men being
naturally equal.
■ however, this condition of war is not literal fighting, but the disposition
towards fighting, where the two cardinal virtues of war — force and fraud —
flourish.
● this is fed by three psychological causes:
○ (a) competition — makes man invade for gain.
(b) diffidence — makes man invade for safety.
(c) glory — makes man invade for reputation.
○ there is no society and all live in continual fear and danger of violent death. the life
of man is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
○ however, these actions of man cannot be considered wrong.
■ where there is no common power, there is no law, and where there is no law,
there is no injustice.
■ right of nature — the liberty of each man to use his own power for the
preservation of his nature and life.
● liberty here can be understood is the absence of external control
and hindrances.
● what is the basic social unit in the state of nature?
○ for Hobbes, it is not the family, but the individual, as he is an individualist.
● what is the mechanism that enforces conformity?
○ for Hobbes, it is law, and not custom or social pressure.
● have men ever actually lived in the state of nature?
○ Hobbes does not extensively discuss this question. the state of nature, according to
him, is not historical, but philosophical.

🟣 SOCIAL CONTRACT.
● what is the social contract?
○ contact between the subjects for the creation of a sovereign that will enforce peace
among the subjects. the voluntary and mutual transferring of right.
■ is the sovereign a party to the contract?
● the sovereign is not a party to the contract, but he is the creation of
such contract. and since the sovereign is not a party, he commit a
breach of contract.
■ since the subjects themselves took part in the creation of the sovereign,
they cannot complain against the actions of the sovereign, because doing
so would be a deliberate injury against themselves.
 ● laying down his right is divesting himself of liberty for the sake of
greater peace and stability, for the sake of escaping from the state
of nature — there shall be peace at home and mutual aid against
enemies abroad.
● what is a commonwealth?
○ a result of the covenant between all men, serving as their representative at the
authorization of all men, to facilitate peace among them.
○ what are the ways in which a commonwealth is created?
■ (a) commonwealth by institution — when men agree among themselves to
submit to some man or assembly of men.
■ (b) commonwealth by acquisition — natural force, when man makes his
children (or other men) submit to him as his government. just war.
● what are the doctrines that are subversive to the commonwealth?
○ the following doctrines have been debunked by Hobbes in the previous and
succeeding bullet points:
■ (1) “that a man, to obtain a kingdom, is sometimes content with less power
than to the peace and defence of the commonwealth is necessarily
required.”
■ (2) “that every private man is judge of good and evil” / “whatsoever man
does against his conscience is sin.”
■ (3) “that faith and sanctity are not to be attained by study and reason, but
by supernatural sanctity or infusion.”
■ (4) “that he that has the sovereign power is subject to civil laws.”
■ (5) “that every private man has absolute propriety over his goods, such as
excludes the right of the sovereign” — every private man does have right
over his goods, but not excluding the sovereign because it is he that
protects this right of each man.
● without him, every man would have right over everyone else’s
property (state of nature).
■ (6) “that sovereign power may be divided.”

🟣 SOVEREIGN POWER.
● what power does the sovereign have over his subjects?
○ doctrine of the absolute state — the sovereign determines what is just and unjust,
and his action is law. thus, by definition, he cannot act illegally.
■ questioning the legality of the sovereign’s actions poses a threat.
● (1) every private man is not a judge of what is good and what is evil.
(2) whatsoever a man does against his conscience does not qualify
to be a sin.
○ emotive theory of value — good and evil are not ethical
qualities, but merely expressions of an individual’s feelings
about them. thus, there are no universally valid ethical
ideas.
● thus, unqualified obedience must be kept by the subjects.
○ sovereign power is “incommunicable and inseparable.”
■ Hobbes is against division of powers, and the division of such has been the
cause of civil wars in history, e.g. the civil war in England as a result of
sovereignty being divided between the King, Lords, and Commons.
● what are the rights of the sovereign?
○ (1) subjects cannot undo or make a new contract among themselves — doing so is
injustice, and going against the very contract they created.
○ (2) since he is not a party of the contract, he cannot commit a breach of the
contract — consequently, the subjects cannot be freed from his subjection
○ (3) those dissenting must stand with the majority — since the majority also
declared a sovereign.
■ otherwise, they will be left back into the condition of war.
○ (4) the actions of the sovereign cannot be accused as injustice — going back to
the fact that the subjects themselves who, by contract, established a sovereign in
the first place.
■ accusing the sovereign of injustice is nothing less than accusing his own act
of contract as injustice.
■ the sovereign may commit iniquity, but not injustice.
○ (5) no man that has sovereign power can be justly put to death — for the same
reasons as above.
○ (6) the sovereign is the judge of what is lawful and not.
○ (7) the sovereign has legislative power — the power of prescribing rules and laws.
○ (8) the sovereign has judicial power — hearing and deciding all controversies which
may arise concerning law or fact.
● what measures must the sovereign put in place to keep the authority of the state strong?
○ there must be no groups or institutions that can intervene between the state and
the individual.
● what are the characteristics of Hobbes’ state?
○ these characteristics are enumerated to go against the claims and criticisms that
Hobbes’ state is totalitarian.
■ (1) a contractual form of government — the covenant or contract transfers
all power and authority to the sovereign.
● having a contract implies mutuality, that the sovereign came to be at
the will of the people, because there can be no contract without
consent.
■ (2) the state’s most basic duty is to maintain order and security for the
benefit of the citizens — this is contrary to the goals of an otherwise
totalitarian state, which lacks concern for the people, as seen in Nazi
Germany, Fascist Italy, and Soviet Russia.
● Hobbes’ ideals are thrift, industry, and commodious living, not race,
empire, and class.
■ (3) authoritarian — not totalitarian.
● there is equality before the law, unlike the inequality of such which
is the major characteristic of a totalitarian state.
● furthermore, authority in Hobbes’ state is concentrated in the
political sphere alone, and laissez faire freedom is actually
promoted.
○ subjects have the liberty to buy and sell, forms contracts
with one another, to choose their own homes, diet, and
trade, etc.
■ (4) the sovereign is a supreme administrator and lawgiver — but not a top
spellbinder, propagandist, or showman.
● further, Hobbes posits that the sovereign may be one man or an
assembly of men.
 ■ (5) war is defensive — of the two main forces that drive men to set up a
state (war and the danger of internal disorder) war is always described to
be defensive.
● Hobbes never glorified war, let alone aggressive war, which
totalitarians find desirable.
■ (6) the state desires merely outer conformity — for purposes of
maintaining peace, which is the conformity of subjects to the law.
● in fact, inner conformity is viewed as a danger.
● Hobbes is concerned with social peace and not with the “truth”
(hammered down by his opinions of religion), and the subject is
simply expected to obey the law, but not be bound to believe it.
■ (7) recognizes the inalienable right of the individual to resist when his life
is at stake.

🟣 RIGHT TO RESIST.
● do the people have a right to resist?
○ in order for the sovereign to retain his office, he must deliver the goods expected
from him.
○ submission consists of — (a) obligation and (b) liberty.
■ subjects have the obligation to obey as long as the sovereign is able to
protect them. by taking part with the contract, there is a consent to follow
all of the sovereigns commands.
■ however, subjects also have the liberty to resist if the sovereigns commands
if an only if an individuals life is threatened. his right to resist cannot be laid
down. the purpose of civil society is, after all, the preservation and
protection of man’s life.

🟣 FORMS OF GOVERNMENT.
● what are the forms of government according to Hobbes?
○ rejected Aristotle’s typology and ethical distinction of government based on whether
it operates in the interest of the people or the rulers, based on his rejection for
ethical universality.
○ instead, Hobbes posits that governments can only differ as to its numerical
composition:
■ (a) monarchy — government by one.
(b) aristocracy — government by the few.
(c) democracy — government by the people.
● tyrannies, oligarchies, and anarchies are not names for ethically
deficient governments. they are simply labels attached by people
who do not like that specific government.
● what is the best form of government according to Hobbes?
○ monarchy — based on logic and not convenience.
■ (a) it has the capability to produce the security and peace of the people
which is the duty of the government.
(b) it suffers less competition for office and power than democracies or
aristocracies.
(c) it is easier for one to act resolutely and consistently, compared to many.
■ it is more effective than aristocracies and democracies.
 ● did the legitimacy of the form of government matter to Hobbes?
○ Hobbes did not focus on the question of the legitimacy of the government. he was
more concerned with the question of an effective government

🟣 RELIGION.
● what is religion, superstition, and true religion?
○ (1) religion — fear of power invisible, feigned to the mind, or imagined from tales,
publicly allowed.
○ (2) superstition — fear of power invisibly, not publicly allowed.
○ (3) true religion — when the power imagines is truly such as we imagine.
● how did Hobbes perceive religion?
○ religions and churches are the most serious danger of civil disobedience and
disunity. religion is the most frequent pretext of sedition and civil war.
■ Hobbes’ skepticism against religion stems from the fact that it is difficult to
verify whether a command comes from God, or someone who used his
name for private gain.
● what happens when there is a conflict between the divine and secular laws?
○ the subject should obey the civil sovereign. otherwise, he may choose death of the
body over the eternal damnation of the soul as a way to prove their faith by their
willingness to die for it.

🟣 LAW.
● can there be unjust laws?
○ there can be no unjust laws according to Hobbes, because laws are the rules of the
just and unjust.
■ this is derived from his rejection of the idea that natural law is the source of
human law, the law behind the law, founded on natural reason or divine
revelation.
○ what is natural law according to Hobbes?
■ it is not law at all — but only “qualities that dispose men to peace and
obedience.” these are moral virtues that include equity, justice, and
gratitude.
■ they are not laws because before the state is established, there is no
authority deciding which idea of law is binding.
■ can be tied to his emotive theory of value.
● what is civil law?
○ to every subject, those rules which the commonwealth has commanded him, by
word, writing or other sufficient sign of the will for the distinction of right and wrong.
○ none can make the laws but the commonwealth — thus, the legislator is the
sovereign.
■ non can abrogate his laws, and he is not subject to his own laws (he who
can bind can release).