Social Philosophy and Sociology: From Aristotle to Kant

Practice No. 3: Social Philosophy and Sociology

From birth, we are in a society formed by a set of individuals with rules, moral norms, and customs. After the family, school, and other institutions, we are influenced by and socialize with individuals. All men are sons of their fathers and mothers, influenced by society as well as genetics. Human nature is modeled by the company we keep.

Aristotle: Man is a Social Being

Social philosophy is concerned with the “ought,” while sociology is concerned with the “is.” Sociology has a recent history, emerging in the 19th century with Comte, Durkheim, Marx, and Weber. Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke, and Kant are considered part of the prehistory of sociology or social philosophy.

The Athens of Plato and Aristotle

Aristotle: Man is a social being, a political animal. In Athens, during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, the city-state was called the Polis (Politics). For the Greeks, living away from the Polis meant being less than human – a beast or a god, but not a man. One example was the death of Socrates, convicted by a court to die. He could have escaped and lived in exile, but Socrates preferred to die, offering a lesson in morals and politics.

Plato proposed deep reforms so that the Polis, society, and the state would be in line with the individual. Plato believed that man is social by nature. In his most important work, “The Republic,” he presents his theory of the ideal state. He proposes a just city formed by individuals. The city will be good if all citizens are humane and educated to develop their ethical virtues and to be fair. Ethics and politics are not separate realities. Man becomes man in society, developing his human capacities through language, ethics, politics, philosophy, theater, religion, science, etc.

Aristotle: “The reason for man being a social animal is that he is the only animal that has the word.” Language leads to sociability and allows us to form social organizations.

Europe of the Enlightenment: 17th-18th Centuries

The Enlightenment brought new thought, challenging the Old Regime and advocating for political and social reform. Representatives of Enlightenment thought include Hobbes, Locke, and Kant. They believed that fairer societies would demand equality and democracy.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Hobbes, in contrast to Aristotle, saw man as an anti-social machine. “Man is a wolf to man.” He held an egoist ethical theory, conceiving of life as a constant struggle to satisfy desires. This theory led to conflict, competition, distrust, and a thirst for glory. Hobbes argued that without a power to restrain them, men would live in a “state of war,” driven by their selfish human nature. To leave this state, men must make a contract, legitimizing a power that curbs selfishness and oversees compliance with agreements. This social contract forms the basis of civil society. The state would hold a monopoly on force, being the only legitimate administrator of power, serving to maintain peace. Hobbes called this powerful state the “Leviathan.”

John Locke (1632-1704)

Locke considered men free and equal. In the state of nature, man is governed by natural law, which recognizes the same freedom for all. The right of each individual is limited by the same right for all other men. Locke identified fundamental rights: life, liberty, and property, which are above the establishment of political society. The state’s role is to ensure individual rights, arbitrate conflicts, and maintain security and social order.

The main difference between Hobbes and Locke lies in their conception of political power. Hobbes favored the accumulation of all power in the state. For Locke, any form of state that goes against reason is wrong, and citizens have the right to oppose and change it. Locke suggested reducing the power of the state to a minimum. He proposed the division of government into three branches: legislative, executive, and federative. Locke was the first to recognize the right of the people to resist and revolt against the state.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

Rousseau criticized earlier philosophers, arguing that “man in the natural state was kind and led a peaceful and free life.” However, the need for subsistence brought men together in society, and this association corrupted them. Rousseau was also influenced by Greek thought, which defended the social nature of man. With the emergence of private property, human corruption began, as it is the origin of inequality. This is explored in his work “Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality among Men.” Rousseau’s criticism of property stems from the fact that it leads to inequality between owners and non-owners, rich and poor. This inequality is publicly recognized and becomes the legal basis of the social pact. For Rousseau, civil society becomes a problem, and the solution is a democratic state.

Rousseau’s thought is based on three stages: the state of nature, society, and the democratic state. In his most mature work, “The Social Contract,” he studies the construction of the state, reflecting on how it should be formed to create citizens who are equal and free. Rousseau believed that a state arising from a covenant of free and voluntary men, based on laws established by mutual agreement, can only be a democratic state. He considered democracy the only legitimate way to organize politics.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Kant argued that man is not naturally friendly or unsociable, but both at once. He coined the term “unsocial sociability.” This reconciled the two classical positions about the nature of man. Plato and Aristotle believed that man is social by nature, while Hobbes and Locke thought that man is unsociable and seeks his own benefit. Kant considered this unsociability not a threat to society but an engine for progress. He used the metaphor of trees growing tall and straight to express the idea that unsociability causes progress.

Like previous thinkers, Kant believed that abandoning natural freedom to be bound by public and social laws requires a contract, which he called the “originating contract.” Like Rousseau, Kant believed that this contract would grant legitimacy and universality. Kant believed that civil society could encourage greater human liberty. This project is based on the rationality and will of all men.