Philosophical Perspectives on Human Existence and Governance
Sartre
Sartre believed that man is “condemned to be free,” meaning driven to action and fully responsible for it, without excuses. Sartre conceived of human existence as conscious existence. Man’s being is distinguished from the being of a thing by awareness. Human existence is a subjective phenomenon, in the sense that the world is consciousness and self-consciousness. The influence of Cartesian rationalism on Sartre is notable.
Hobbes
At the dawn of the modern age, the Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli, in his major work, gave value to the concept of reciprocal respect. In his famous treatise, Leviathan (1651), Hobbes formally noted the transition of natural law doctrine to the theory of law as a social contract. According to the English philosopher, in the state of nature, all men are free but live in perpetual danger of a war of all against all (bellum omnium contra omnes). The contract, submitting people to a sovereign power, creates the possibility of peace. Not truth, but the principle of authority (as guarantor of peace) is the foundation of Hobbes’ philosophy of law.
Locke and Montesquieu
John Locke emphasized the natural rights of the individual against state authority. His focus on freedom, equality, and the protection of private property, along with Montesquieu’s doctrine of the separation of powers, articulated in The Spirit of Laws (1748), significantly influenced the political events leading to the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789).
Hume and Kant
In the same period, alongside the reflections of the Scottish philosopher David Hume, the German philosopher Immanuel Kant established a strict distinction between ethics and law, differentiating between a law’s command and an individual’s inner and outer actions. Kant’s vision of the state of nature before social organization is a “war of all against all,” where life is solitary, poor, brutal, and short. He speaks of the law of nature as the freedom to use one’s power for self-preservation. When man realizes he cannot live in continuous civil war, the law of nature arises, restricting actions that threaten life. This leads to the second law of nature, where each man surrenders his right to absolute power to a guarantor of peace, thus establishing the social contract.
Plato
Plato’s philosophical ideas had profound social implications, particularly regarding the ideal state. Discrepancies exist between his early and later ideas. Some of his most famous doctrines are presented in The Republic.
Plato believed society should have a tripartite class structure mirroring the appetite, spirit, and reason of the individual soul:
- Craftsmen/Farmers (Workers): Corresponding to the “appetite” of the soul.
- Warriors/Guardians: Adventurous, strong, courageous, forming the “spirit” of the soul.
- Rulers/Philosophers: Intelligent, rational, making decisions for the community, representing the “reason” of the soul.
This model challenged Athenian democracy. Plato argued that few are capable of governing and that reason and wisdom, not rhetoric, should rule. This is not tyranny, despotism, or oligarchy. Plato stated: “Until philosophers rule as kings or those who are now called kings and leaders adequately philosophize, that is, until political power and philosophy coincide, cities will have no peace, nor will the human race.” Plato describes these “philosopher kings” as those who “love to see the truth” and uses the analogy of a captain and his ship or a doctor and their medicine. Not everyone is qualified for these roles.
Much of The Republic focuses on the educational process needed to produce these “philosopher kings.” It’s important to note that the city described in The Republic is an ideal, examined to understand justice and injustice. The “real” and “healthy” city, described in Book II, includes workers but not philosopher-kings, poets, or warriors.