Thanks to all class members for joining the Philosophy Phor Phun Discussion class this year. While we have had the issues with lockdowns this year, I have enjoyed having the Zoom classes and occasional in person classes with you all.
Thanks to Helen for helping out with running classes every now and then. Thanks to June for keeping us informed about U3A issues. Thanks to everyone for your contribution and patience.
Attached are a couple of photos of yesterday's outdoor class. Have a great holiday and I look forward to seeing you next year.
Today's class outdoors class will go ahead at the back of U3A Hub. The weather forecast is for light rain. The BBQ area has shelter and also we can use the covered area at the back of the U3A Hub if we think that area is better.
Details are as follows:
Date: Wednesday 24/11/2021
Time: 12:30 ~2:00 pm (you may wish to stay a bit longer to have a chat after class.)
Location: The BBQ area behind Nunawading U3A Hub (please see pictures below). If you drive into the main car park, there is a path on the right hand side (West side). The BBQ area is at the top of the path. We should also be able to use the covered area at the back of the Hub as well, if we think that area is better.
Things to bring: Please BYO everything you need for outdoor class/picnic yourself. So please bring your own folding chairs. If you do not have one, let me know. I have some spare ones. We can also borrow chairs from U3A. Bring snacks and drinks too.
Weather: The weather forecast is for light rain. It should be OK for the class to go ahead.
Topic for discussion: We will discuss John Rawls. Please see attached. Helen will take this class and she has some hard copies printed.
You may be interested to have a look at the frontispiece of Hobbes' masterpiece - "Leviathan". In it, a giant crowned figure is seen emerging from the landscape, clutching a sword and a crosier, beneath a quote from the Book of Job—"Non est potestas Super Terram quae Comparetur ei. Iob. 41.24" , which means: "There is no power on earth to be compared to him. Job 41 . 24" — further linking the figure to the monster of the book. (note 1)
The torso and arms of the figure are composed of over three hundred persons, in the style of Giuseppe Arcimboldo; all are facing away from the viewer, with just the giant's head having visible facial features.
The lower portion is a triptych, framed in a wooden border. The centre form contains the title on an ornate curtain. The two sides reflect the sword and crosier of the main figure – earthly power on the left and the powers of the church on the right. Each side element reflects the equivalent power – castle to church, crown to mitre, cannon to excommunication, weapons to logic, and the battlefield to the religious courts. The giant holds the symbols of both sides, reflecting the union of secular, and spiritual in the sovereign, but the construction of the torso also makes the figure the state
Note:
Due to disagreements over the precise location of the chapters and verses when they were divided in the Late Middle Ages, the verse Hobbes quotes is usually given as Job 41:33 in modern Christian translations into English, Job 41:25 in the Masoretic text, Septuagint, and the Luther Bible; it is Job 41:24 in the Vulgate.
A manuscript of Leviathan created for Charles II in 1651 has notable differences – a different main head but significantly the body is also composed of many faces, all looking outwards from the body and with a range of expressions.
The political philosophies of the English philosophers Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), John Locke (1632–1704) and the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) are often referred to as Social Contract theories. The above video looks at the Social Contract theories of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. Social Contract theories look at what the relationship between people and their government should be.
The following two videos from Youtube published by Philosophy Vibe give more details on the social contract theories of the three philosophers.
Some Definitions
State of nature, in political theory, the real or hypothetical condition of human beings before or without political association.
Sovereignty, in political theory, the ultimate overseer, or authority, in the decision-making process of the state and in the maintenance of order.
Social contract, in political philosophy, an actual or hypothetical compact, or agreement, between the ruled or between the ruled and their rulers, defining the rights and duties of each. In primeval times, according to the theory, individuals were born into an anarchic state of nature, which was happy or unhappy according to the particular version of the theory. They then, by exercising natural reason, formed a society (and a government) by means of a social contract.
