Comment on the Hobbesian notion of Political Obligation in 150 words
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Route 1 define obligation (duty to obey state/law) → stake: nearly unlimited, self-imposed to flee war of all against all
Route 2 start from fear / state of nature → escape needs one final authority → obedience is the price of peace
covenant as ground → Ebenstein: sovereign is the creation, not a party; pact is among subjects → each authorises sovereign’s acts as his own → disobedience contradicts one’s own will → relapse into state of nature
obligation not blind → holds only while sovereign protects life → self-preservation inalienable → no duty to obey a command of self-destruction
Route 1 ground debated: Taylor’s prudence vs Warrender’s natural law → fear + consent + duty, yet bounded by right to live
Route 2 obligation strong but conditional → protection is the real measure → individual never fully absorbed by Leviathan
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
