Abstract:
This article is a study dedicated to the works of Thomas Hobbs, John Locke
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who are the authors of the voluntary theory of the
emergence of the state. The main purpose of this article is, on the one hand, to
analyze the voluntary theory of the emergence of the state through the prism of
the political and philosophical doctrine of great thinkers and, on the other hand,
through the prism of the implementation of this theory in practice. Thomas Hobbs
in his treatise „Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth
Ecclesiasticall and Civil”, promotes and develops the ideological base of absolute
monarchy. John Locke, through his „Two Treatises of Government” and „ A Letter
Concerning Toleration”, justified the concept of political liberalism. Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, in his work „On the Social Contract; or, Principles of Political Rights”,
which is the quintessence of this thinker’s political ideas, promotes democratic ideas,
by formulating the concept of natural and inalienable human rights. A comparative
study of these doctrines of great philosophers allows us to emphasize the development
of absolutist, liberal and democratic ideas, as well as the concept of state sovereignty
and human rights. The implementation of the idea of the social contract, developed
by Thomas Hobbs, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, gives us the opportunity
to highlight both authoritarian, liberal and democratic trends in the modern society.
