英文摘要 |
The Social Contract doctrine occupies the dominant position in the modern liberal tradition, with T. Hobbes and J. Locke as the two figures who initiated this tradition. Both tried to establish a model in which the state and its basic institutions, including the personal rights of the individual, were derived from the individual as they saw him. In today's discourses he is often dubbed as 'the atomic man.' This is because the individual as Hobbes and Locke saw him was one who was thoroughly unencumbered by, or detached from, the society in which he is brought up, and so, asocial and ahistorical. The individual in this type implies that everyone in his or her 'essence' is sexless, colorless, and non-ethnic. The individuals in essence are, i.e., invariably the same. What they have in common is nothing but their reason, which, in turn, is like a unfilled-out plate, as Lock’s doctrine of mind shows: “tabula rasa.” Everything else acquired by experience or education during one’s life are supposed to be inscribed or “attached” on it thereafter. Thus, this doctrine can boast itself as universalistic, i.e., universally applicable to all humans regardless of their societies or cultures. This individual, atomistic man, serves as the starting point of the model, which many later figures in this tradition followed. Since Hobbes and Locke are the two progenitors of this model, how they constructed it then is of importance for us to further understand the liberal tradition and the many doctrines based on this model. The model fits for the modern definition of a “classic,” in the sense that it is much talked about, or even hotly debated, by many, but none or very few have ever tried to be clear about what it is. This author then is trying hard to avoid personal interpretation. His sole purpose simply is lay bare this model as was constructed by the two thinkers. |