Thomas Hobbes Justify Government Surveillance
Government surveillance has become prevalent during the age of the Internet. While the government can also monitor phone calls, the internet has made it easier for agencies to monitor people because of its widespread use and ease of access. The Patriot Act granted federal agencies the power to monitor telephone and internet traffic in order to prevent a terrorist attack. Through the social contract theory, one can justify government surveillance by claiming that the government is monitoring information in order to ensure the safety of its citizens. Thomas Hobbes claimed that in the state of nature, human beings are in constant conflict because they must compete for scarce resources in order to survive (Rachels, 142). According to Hobbes, in order to have a peaceful and cooperative society humans have to enter into an agreement. …show more content…
Hobbes argument can be used to justify government surveillance because the government is monitoring information in order to uncover terrorist plots. In doing so, the government is doing its job by preventing an attack and ensuring the safety of its citizens. James Rachels states that the first tenant of social contract theory is “that people will not harm one anther-people must be able to work together without fear of attack” (Rachels, 143). This means that social contract theorist would argue in favor of the Patriot Act because it ensures the safety of its citizens by targeting individuals who want to harm
Usa Patriot Act Pros And Cons
427 Words | 2 PagesRecently the right to privacy has been severely threatened by the Patriot Act. The USA PATRIOT ACT, which was made a law on October 26, 2001 by president George W. Bush, let criminal investigators use whatever tools necessary to find terrorist attacks before they happened; USA PATRIOT ACT is short for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001". This was made a law in response to the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center in NYC on September 11, 2001. Law enforcement officials were given better resources to fight financial counterfeiting, smuggling and money laundering schemes that funded terrorists. The Patriot Act’s definition of terrorism also gave
Locke Vs Thomas Hobbes Dbq
965 Words | 4 PagesHobbes believed that without a strong government, people experience continual fear and danger of violent death and lives that are solitary, poor, brutish, and short.” This quote is important because many people who are not ruled usually lead to destruction and mayhem. According to hobbes “appointing a diverse group of representatives to present the problems of the common people to the leviathan. These representatives would only have the power to present opinions, since all final decisions would be made by the leviathan.” i imagine that hobbes presumes that the citizens will take advantage of anyone who is seen as a “good” person, this idea can provide the people with a voice and still be able to make the right
Hobbes Locke Dbq
789 Words | 4 PagesHobbes believed if there was no government every man will fight against one another for power. To stop the fighting the people form a government to make peace. “To this war of every man against every man, this also is consequent; that nothing can be unjust” (doc 2). This quote is saying that without laws or any form of government people will fight each other. And
How Has 9/11 Impacted Society
674 Words | 3 PagesSince September 11th, fear connected with national security threats has shifted to fear of the federal government. The U.S.A. Patriot Act certainly caused much anxiety amongst society. Signed by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001, this act increased law enforcement’s surveillance and investigative powers, “The purpose of the USA PATRIOT Act is to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and other purposes.” Clearly, federal agents have abused their power, as personal information, telephone calls, and Internet searches were and are being recorded and saved. A recent news article, posted in The Guardian, fully elucidates the intrusive government spying of American citizens, “the watchlist tracks ‘known’ and ‘suspected’ terrorists and includes both foreigners and Americans.
Persuasive Essay On Patriot Act
575 Words | 3 PagesFacebook posts, candlelight vigils, days of mourning, and for Ariana Grande to cancel her tour. Terrorists want reactions, and that is exactly what people give them after every type of terrorist attack. There is nothing wrong with the Facebook posts, candlelight vigils, and dedications. The problem is that is all that is done. The United States government needs to start taking extreme measures to keep citizens safe by monitoring suspected terrorists, and the government needs to start requiring extreme security scans before letting one into any public event.
Machiavelli Vs Hobbes Research Paper
624 Words | 3 PagesHobbes believed that natural state of humans was violent and therefore needed order and control to ensure a just and equal society (Robinson 2016, 4). However Hobbes believed that a sovereign could maintain power without deceit and manipulation. Hobbes believed in the social contract which is when people could have a moral understanding about right and wrong to avoid the chaotic violent human nature. Hobbes believed in the idea of utilitarianism which would “maximize the most good and minimize the pain” (Robinson 201, 4). This would ensure that the sovereign was doing things for the right reasons and not to better himself but to better society as a
Pros And Cons Of The NSA Surveillance
2274 Words | 10 PagesThe recent revelations about the NSA surveillance programme have cause concern and outrage by citizens and politicians across the world. What has been missing, though, is any extended discussion of why the government wants the surveillance and on what basis is it authorised. For many commentators surveillance is wrong and it cannot be justified. Some commentators have argued that surveillance is intrinsic to the nature of government and its ability to deliver the public good.[1] Few, though have looked at the surveillance within a wider context to understand how it developed. A notable exception is the work by Steven Aftergood.
Thomas Hobbes Influence On Thomas Jefferson's Declaration Of Enlightenment
493 Words | 2 PagesThere were many philosophers in the 17th and 18th century that influenced and inspired the founders of our country. For instance, John Locke believed that life, liberty, and property should be our natural rights as humans and if the government could not secure these rights then the people could get rid of them. That idea impacted Thomas Jefferson when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. This was the perfect time to develop different theories and contradictions because this was right around the time of the printing press and protestant reformation where people started to question the catholic church. Other philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau impacted founders like George Washington and James Madison who have positively affected this country in many different ways.
Summary Of Thomas Hobbes Theory Of Social Contract
838 Words | 4 PagesThere is only constant fear of violence and death, and hence the life of man will be solitary, poor, brutal, nasty, and short as Hobbes mentions. So, according to him we need moral and legal rules to help everyone flourish. Everyone must come together and form certain rules, and everyone must agree to these rules. That is to say they enter a sort of some form of social contract.
How Did Thomas Hobbes Influence American Government
1212 Words | 5 PagesHobbes developed the ‘social contract theory’, which is the idea that civilians give up some of their freedom and liberty for protection from the leader. This concept, which was used during Hobbes’s time, is still a part of the government today. Hobbes brings down this concept in his world famous book, Leviathan. A picture of a ‘giant’ monarch holding onto a tiny world is used to describe his version of the social contract. The drawing depicts the trade of freedom for safety.
Surveillance In The Truman Show
1390 Words | 6 PagesSurveillance is becoming increasingly integrated into human lives. Seemingly inconsequential minutiae like how long one spends in line at a grocery store or how many times a headline is clicked on a social media site are collected automatically by both public and private institutions. Whatever we do and wherever we go, there is likely some trace of it. This has led to great debates about the right to privacy, how much surveillance is too much, and under what circumstances surveillance is justifiable. Film and Television play important roles in these debates and in the way in which the public conceptualizes the utility and threat of surveillance more generally.
The Use Of Privacy In George Orwell's 1984
806 Words | 4 PagesThe U.S. government is invading the privacy of its’ citizens through the use of mobile devices such as phones and laptops. This use of privacy invasion is similar to the technology used in George Orwell’s novel 1984. What makes today relate to 1984 is how the government tracks us through location, voice, and messaging. George Orwell’s 1984 has a totalitarian government that can track its’ citizens through location with the use of telescreens. In the novel, telescreens can track your location in a room through a telescreen, which is demonstrated by Winston´s thought ¨so long as you remained within the field of vision … you could be seen¨ (Orwell, page 3).
Pros And Cons Of Surveillance Society
1315 Words | 6 Pages(Bilton, 2013) Surveillance of search engines permits information to be monitored so that if any hazardous search word like how to make bomb is looked it up several times by someone then it can be identified (Anon, 2014). Also, watching over the public assists police to capture crime suspects so that government organizations can protect national security (mass surveillance 위키피디아) To be specific, after terrible incident occurred in September 11, 2001, government of United States enacted the Patriot Act which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. The act was signed by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001 in the name of declaring war with terrorism. (위키피디아) The law grants the right to Federal Bureau of Investigation to profile people who fit certain stereotypes so that potential crime and potential terror can be prevented.
Comparing Thomas Hobbes's Moral And Political Philosophy
1251 Words | 6 PagesThe secondary literature on Hobbes's moral and political philosophy (not to speak of his entire body of work) is vast, appearing across many disciplines and in many languages. There are two major aspects to Hobbes's picture of human nature. As we have seen, and will explore below, what motivates human beings to act is extremely important to Hobbes. The other aspect concerns human powers of judgment and reasoning, about which Hobbes tends to be extremely skeptical. Like many philosophers before him, Hobbes wants to present a more solid and certain account of human morality than is contained in everyday beliefs.
Legitimacy Of Government Authority In John Stuart Mill's The Mongol Empire
657 Words | 3 PagesHowever, Mill’s harm principle indicates the latter. He justifies state interference into citizen lives as a means of preventing said citizens from harming each other. The state has an obligation to ensure the safety of its people. The government achieves this by monitoring the information of its citizens as a preventative caution. I concluded that while surveillance did infringe on liberty, concessions were necessary for security.
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