The historical research of the nineteenth century has long since made an end of the social contract as an explanation of state-origins; and with it, of necessity, has gone the conception of natural rights as anterior to organized society.
Harold J. Laski: “The historical research of the nineteenth century has long since made an end of the social contract as an explanation of…”
Editor's note · Context
Laski critiques the social contract theory and the notion of natural rights as outdated explanations for the origins of the state.
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