Political Theories

This philosopher believes that people have inalienable rights to life, liberty and property.

• Thomas Hobbes

• John Locke

• Meng Zi

• Robert Nozick

Unlike Hobbes, Rousseau believed that the state of nature is a morally neutral and ______ condition, where individuals act based on their basic needs and self-preservation.

• peaceful

• chaotic

• competitive

• selfish

According to Hobbes, political authority is justified by a hypothetical social contract in which the people relinquish their personal rights for the collective _______.

• power

• freedom

• security

• wealth

According to Nozick, the minimal state (protecting natural rights to life, liberty, and property) is justified because _______

• that is the only way the government will act in the people's interests.

• individuals would naturally think of the collective good.

• people do not like being over-governed.

• individuals would naturally create such a state through transactions that would not violate anyone’s rights.

John Rawls argued that the basic features of a just society could best be discovered when rational individuals are made ignorant of their positions in society.

• True

• False