Where does the state's authority come from?
Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersThe state of nature?
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 8 Flashcards — Where does the state's authority come from?
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
The state of nature?
Answer
An imagined situation with no state, no laws and no shared authority — used to ask why we'd want a state at all.
Question
The social contract?
Answer
The idea that a state's authority rests on an agreement people would make to set it up, to escape a worse life without one.
Question
Hobbes on the state?
Answer
With no state, life is a 'war of all against all', so we'd hand near-absolute power to a strong ruler for safety.
Question
Locke on the state?
Answer
We already have natural rights but no fair way to protect them, so we set up a LIMITED state — replaceable if it violates those rights.
Question
Rousseau's general will?
Answer
What's genuinely good for the whole community; when law expresses it, obeying is ruling yourself, so you stay free.
Question
Ibn Khaldun's asabiyya?
Answer
Group solidarity — the shared 'we-feeling' that binds a people; states rise on strong asabiyya and fall as it fades.
Question
The 'I never signed it' objection?
Answer
The contract isn't literally signed — a fair state is one you WOULD agree to, and you accept its benefits every day.
Question
Contract vs asabiyya — different questions?
Answer
The contract JUSTIFIES a state (a deal we'd accept); asabiyya explains what HOLDS it together (real solidarity).
Read the notes
Full study notes for Where does the state's authority come from?
Topic 7.1 hub
The state
More from Topic 7.1
All flashcards in this topic
Philosophy exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free