Harold J. Laski: “The social contract is at least as old as when Glaucon debated with…”

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The social contract is at least as old as when Glaucon debated with Socrates in the market-place at Athens.

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Harold J. Laski

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Laski highlights the enduring nature of the social contract concept in political philosophy.

More from Harold J. Laski

But we cannot understand the eighteenth century, or its theories, unless we realize that its temper was still dominantly aristocratic.

We do not build Utopias; and the attempt to discover the eternal principles of political right invites disaster at the outset.

How could it seek security where it defied the desires of the vast majority of its subjects?

The main thing was to be rid of the Divine Right of kings.

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Harold J. Laski: “The social contract is at least as old as when Glaucon debated with Socrates in the market-place at Athens.”