structure for 'Ethics'    |     alphabetical list of themes    |     unexpand these ideas

23. Ethics / B. Contract Ethics / 4. Value of Authority

[someone who creates trust by enforcing contracts]

4 ideas
Is right just the interests of the powerful? [Plato]
     Full Idea: Thrasymachus: right is the interest of the established government.
     From: Plato (The Republic [c.374 BCE], 339a)
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy [Jesus]
     Full Idea: Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
     From: Jesus (reports [c.32]), quoted by St Matthew - 01: Gospel of St Matthew 05.07
     A reaction: This appears to be a straightforward application of social contract morality, with God playing the role of Hobbes' absolute monarch. It highlights the uncomfortable fact at the heart of Christian morality, that the motivation for altruism is selfish.
Suspicion will not destroy a contract, if there is a common power to enforce it [Hobbes]
     Full Idea: If there be a common power set over both parties in a contract, with right and force sufficient to compel performance, a contract does not become void as soon as the parties are suspicious.
     From: Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan [1651], 1.14)
Fear of sanctions is the only motive for acceptance of authority that Hobbes can think of [MacIntyre on Hobbes]
     Full Idea: Hobbes has such a limited view of human motives that he cannot provide any other explanation for the acceptance of authority than the fear of sanctions..
     From: comment on Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan [1651], Pt 1) by Alasdair MacIntyre - A Short History of Ethics Ch.10
     A reaction: There are two alternative views - the conservative view that people naturally welcome and even need authority, because they need to be led; or the Aristotelian view that people are naturally communal, and authority is part of community life.