Do you know what it is called when you agree to do something in return for something else? Hobbes believed when you enter into this agreement with a ruler in exchange for protection, you have entered a contract. When individuals give up their rights in order to be protected, this is a social contract. The image below is an illustration of a social contract (Hobbes).

Left image: A crowd of people standing on a corner waiting for the crossing light to change; Right image: A photograph of English Queen, Victoria taken in 1882. She is wearing a crown and a very fine dress and holding a scepter; There are arrows pointing from each image to the other, with the label: 'give up their rights to a ruler' 'in order to have peace and protection'

Now let's see you fill in the blanks identifying Hobbes's point of view on individual liberty.

Interactive exercise. Assistance may be required. Drag each term to the correct place in the sentences below.

Sources of images used for this section as they appear, top to bottom: