Pick ONE of the following and tell what Hobbes, Locke, AND Rousseau would say about the legitimacy of the governmental action described. Then tell who you think is the most correct and why.

(my choice) The government outlaws abortion, on penalty of incarceration of both the mother and doctor.

Reflection Response 5

The government outlaws abortion, on penalty of incarceration of both the mother and doctor.

     Abortion has been practiced within societies since ancient times, and has been a controversial topic during most of that history. A woman's right to terminate a pregnancy, as well as the doctor's role assisting her, remain the subjects of legal and moral debate in the modern world- often intensifying during political seasons and serving to create stark division between the opposing factions.

    The central question of abortion comes down to a matter of which entity has the right to choose- the individual (mother-to-be) or the State (on her behalf). And while the matter is far from settled, and unlikely to be anytime soon, perhaps some insights can be gleaned from what major philosophers have had to say; treatises from the early Modern era that addressed the roles of governments and their subjects. The works of Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), John Locke (1632-1704), and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) provide enlightening views, not only on basic human rights, but also reflect their era's stance on the family's function (and influence) within the laws of a society.

     The Hobbesian slant on an individual citizen's rights within a “commonwealth” was fairly stringent, stressing the sovereign's absolute authority once appointed by the people. From Chapter 18 of his Leviathan, “the sovereignty alone has the right of judging, i.e. of hearing and deciding any controversies that may arise concerning law (civil or natural) or concerning fact.” An individual must be “contented to accept all the actions the sovereign shall do; and if he doesn’t, he may justly be destroyed by the others.”

     It is very clear, based on this, that Hobbes would fully support a government that decided to outlaw abortion. But there is a very interesting (and disturbing) passage that occurs a bit later in Chapter 20: “If there’s no contract, the mother has dominion... Also, the infant is at first in the power of the mother, so that she can either nourish it or expose it [= leave it out in the open, to die unless rescued by strangers].” Strange as it sounds, it would seem that Hobbes conceded a mother the right to commit infanticide- a practice even more ethically problematic than abortion.

     John Locke weighs in with an observation on the “state of nature” in Chapter 2 of his Treatise with “we are all the property of him who made us, and he made us to last as long as he chooses, not as long as we choose.” Although meant in a much broader sense, this could be applied to the termination of a pregnancy, and the interpretation is clear- that we do not have the right to make such a decision.

   And so, paradoxically, Locke would have taken a stronger stance against abortion, although he gave significantly less implicit authority to government; “the civil magistrate doesn’t interfere with any of the husband’s or wife’s rights... namely procreation... He comes into the picture only when called upon to decide any controversy that may arise between man and wife” (Chapter 6).

     Before bringing in the last of the three figures, it's important to remember the time frame from Hobbes to Rousseau (1651-1762 for their respective works cited herein). The philosophy of man's relation to government was evolving and we can expect for the later thinkers to be more progressive, and Rousseau's “social contract” called for citizens to have more right to choose the laws of their society. Born into a democracy (Switzerland), Rousseau had that advantage over his predecessors who lived under monarchies. On the subject of parents and children, he observed “The most ancient of all societies, and the only natural one, is the society of the family... You could call the family the prime model of political societies: the ruler corresponds to the father, and the people to the children.”

    Abortion was not the issue in these former eras that it is today. However, because of his more democratic view of individuals and their relation to the law, I believe that most modern people who, like myself, side with with a woman's right to choose, would prefer Rousseau as a champion for that cause. Democracy is the preferable system for individual liberties, including our own bodies...