Tracing the Roots of Societal Structures: the Origin of the State- Elene Suramelashvilli

Various political philosophers have posited theories that seek to explain the origin of the state. Barnes argues that this line of thought was begun by Socrates, who introduced the concept of the law of nature as constructed to human law (Barnes, 1924, p. 19). Socrates viewed the state as a majestic horse that needed constant guidance to fulfil its rightful responsibilities. He believed that achieving this involved consistently prompting the state’s understanding of its duties across different settings throughout the day (Barnes, 1924).

This article traces philosophical thought of the origin of the state that followed Socrates’ thesis.

Plato

Socrates’ disciple, Plato, presents a more sophisticated definition of the state in his most famous work - Republic. For Plato, the multiplicity of the wants of mankind, and the resulting division of labour to achieve them, was the foundation of the origin of the state. (Barnes, 1924). “A state, according to Plato, is an integration of the needy and their helpers, every person belonging to both of these classes” (Barnes, 1924). The state emerges through the gradual aggregation of basic familial units into tribes, which subsequently consolidate to form a city (Barnes, 1924).

Niccolo Machiavelli

Despite the highly influential ideas of Socrates and Plato, their explanations of origin are not widely used in political science today. "Nowadays, when a person or party comes to power, it is said to take over the state or the government" (Mansfield, 1983). The state plays a crucial role in protecting individuals, as it is responsible for caring for its citizens. Machiavelli challenges the current classical expression of the state (Mansfield, 1983). For Machiavelli, "the state is the highest form of social organization and the most necessary of all institutions" (Mansfield, 1983). Machiavelli saw the state as responsible for the welfare of its citizens He argued that the state originated to satisfy citizens' material needs (Mansfield, 1983).

Influenced by life in Florence, in Renaissance Italy, where Machiavelli served as the second chancellor, his most famous works the Discourses and the Prince analyse political categories - monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy - tracing back to Aristotle (Harding, 1994). Machiavelli sees the state as the highest authority in human society, emphasising its need for sovereignty, autonomy, and protection from religious influences (Harding, 1994). Throughout his work, he does not discuss state origin theories in-depth but instead focuses on providing political advice on how a prince should rule the state.

Thomas Hobbes

Hobbes gave a more detailed analysis of the origin of the state, trying to analyse the roots of its creation. Hobbes argues that people entered into a social contract, consenting to a central sovereign authority, endowed with absolute power to uphold peace and prevent chaos (Read, 1991). “The nature of the transition from the state of nature to civil society [involved] the interplay of force, selfinterest, and sense of obligation in creating motives for obedience to sovereign authority” (Read, 1991). For Hobbes, state creation stemmed from the people’s willingness and agreement to avoid chaos rather than being a natural entity that had existed for a long time. Unlike Aristotle, Hobbes rejects the idea of the state as a natural entity existing in the world. Hobbes was one of the first social contract theorists to discuss the active role of individuals in forming the social contract. His work, “Leviathan”, an example of social contract theory, derives its name from the Hebrew word meaning “sea monster,” a name appearing several times in the Bible (Skinner, 1964).

Hobbes discusses the concept of “the state of nature,” a period predating the creation of the state, where all humans lived in chaos. In this existence, all men live for themselves. Extreme competition is central to this life because people have unlimited freedom, leading to chaos and war (Read, 1991). In such a scenario, individuals perpetually harbour a fear of one another due to the constant possibility of being attacked. Consequently, those possessing greater strength are more likely to endure, while others have diminished prospects of survival (Read, 1991). The constant dread of chaos prompted people to believe that establishing a state would enhance their safety.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Rousseau is another social contract theorist whose ideas are crucial in political philosophy. Interestingly, Rousseau rejects Hobbes's ideas about the state of nature. Rousseau perceives the "history of man prior to the establishment of government” described in his Second Discourse, not as a factual account but also as “an analytic device that signals a special condition, that amoral condition where the only rule, is the rule of superior force" (Noone, 1970). He argues that "each of us puts in common his person and all his power under the supreme direction of the general will, and in our corporate capacity we receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole" (Noone, 1970). Rousseau asserts that "the first state was created by the free and rational will of men" (Noone, 1970). Moreover, he emphasises that the social contract was the primary agreement between the people and their government, with the government serving as an expression of the people's will. The citizens’ involvement in creating the laws ensures that they would follow and abide by them.

The most significant aspect of Rousseau’s theory is the metaphor of an organic contract. "The Contract social uses this organic formulation as a starting point and then proceeds to a much more subtle and mature handling of this basic intuition that the state is a living organism much like a human body" (Conroy, 1979). This was a revolutionary idea criticized by philosophers and political scientists ever since; however, it stands as one of Rousseau’s central political ideas.

Karl Marx

Marx views the state as a "tool manipulated by the exploiters to oppress the exploited" (Dyer, 1972). Describing it as the "creature of economic forces in society" (Dyer, 1972), Marx primarily views the state as a manifestation of self-interest, which powerful elites exploit to impose their force and dominance on others. Further, Marx argues that state creation is significantly connected to class struggle within society because the emergence of the state is closely correlated with the development of private property and the division of society into distinct social classes (Dyer, 1972). According to Marx, societies evolved from primitive communal arrangements to more complex, class-based structures, serving as a means for the ruling class to maintain control and protect its interests. The state was essential in maintaining the ruling class's dominance in different historical periods.

Conclusions

In conclusion, philosophers throughout the years have discussed diverse theories about the origin of the state. These theories, discussed in this article, built on the ideas of Socrates, changing and converging in some key ways. These theories continue to hold a powerful influence on 21st-century politics and philosophy.

References

Barnes, H. E. (1924). THEORIES OF THE ORIGIN OF THE STATE IN CLASSICAL POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. The Monist, 34(1), 15–62. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27900975

Conroy, P. V. (1979). Rousseau’s Organic State. South Atlantic Bulletin, 44(2), 1–13. doi:10.2307/3198929

Dyer, P. W. (1972). THE CONCEPTION OF THE STATE IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARX AND ENGELS. Journal of Thought, 7(3), 147–158. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42590054

Harding, A. (1994). THE ORIGINS OF THE CONCEPT OF THE STATE. History of Political Thought, 15(1), 57–72. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26214385

Mansfield, H. C. (1983). On the Impersonality of the Modern State: A Comment on Machiavelli’s Use of Stato. The American Political Science Review, 77(4), 849–857. doi:10.2307/1957561

Noone, J. B. (1970). The Social Contract and the Idea of Sovereignty in Rousseau. The Journal of Politics, 32(3), 696–708. doi:10.2307/2128837

Read, J. H. (1991). Thomas Hobbes: Power in the State of Nature, Power in Civil Society. Polity, 23(4), 505–525. doi:10.2307/3235060

Skinner, Q. (1964). Review: Hobbes’s ‘Leviathan’ [Review of The Divine Politics of Thomas Hobbes: An Interpretation of “Leviathan”; The Hunting of Leviathan, by F. C. Hood & S. I. Mintz]. The Historical Journal, 7(2), 321–333.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3020357