An introduction to Philosophy

The history of political thought is the history of the attempts over the centuries to answer the question: 'Why should I obey the state?' Answers have ranged from: The pragmatic - 'Because if I don't they will cut my head off' To the theological - 'Because it is God's will' From the contractual - 'Because the state and I have a deal' To the metaphysical - 'Because the state is the actuality of the …

…sophistication. He is the first of the militant philistines, the ancestor of the petit bourgeois revolutionaries. His is a violent vision expressed in apparent deductive reason. His concept of general will is mystical. The state is religious; it is I yet it is greater than me. He claimed to be one of the most ardent lovers of freedom ever, whereas in fact he was one of the most sinister and most formidable enemies of liberty.