On the Gender Competition in Hobbes' Social Contract Theory

• Main Authors: Wei-Chung Li, 李威諄
• Other Authors: Shin-Tung Chuang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/86883079552385933019

碩士 === 國立臺北大學 === 法律學系一般生組 === 97 === Social contract theory, has a significant influence to legislative policy and the source of government power from the 17th century. It promote the democratization movement, and implement among in the Constitution, written and unwritten law in the world. We even can say that the movement of the progressive societies has hither to been a movement from feudal status system to new civil world of contract. Although the ideal is the case, we found that social inequality and class dictatorship is still found everywhere in three hundred years later. As an example of gender relations, mutually exclusive with social contract theory, does the patriarchy disappear nowadays? I am afraid not. The status of women compared with men, still cannot keep abreast in the legal system. As an American scholar Carole Pateman said that while on the theory of social contract is controversial constantly, but Academia still keep a deep silence once deal with gender relations. To compensate for this omission, this thesis added to a patriarchal theory which prior to social contract theory. Hobbes has become the focus of this thesis, mainly because of his extreme individualism. But If even in such extreme Hobbesian social contract theory claims that inequality still exist between men and women, then what is the source of inequality? If the result of such unequal from birth, and could not be undone, then the assumption by social contract theory about individual equality maybe wrong. If this inequality is acquired through the shaping of the social system, then why such society bent on to reproduce patriarchal oppression? If the above issues, are unable to obtain a satisfactory explanation, we will find that even the most extreme social contract theory -- Hobbes , abiding by the principle of equality, still unable to eradicate the oppression of patriarchy.