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Famous Utopias; Being the Complete Text of Rousseau's Social Contract, More's Utopia, Bacon's New Atlantis, Campanella's City of the Sun
Famous Utopias Being the Complete Text of Rousseau's Social Contract More's Utopia Bacon's New Atlantis Campanella's City of the Sun Author:Jean-Jacques Rousseau General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1901 Original Publisher: Tudor publishing co. Subjects: Utopias Political science Social contract Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this b... more »ook you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: Let us assume for a moment this pretended right. I say that nothing results from it but inexplicable nonsense; for if force constitutes right, the effect changes with the cause, and any force which overcomes the first succeeds to its rights. As soon as men can disobey with impunity, they may do so legitimately; and since the strongest is always in the right, the only thing is to act in such a way that one may be the strongest. But what sort of a right is it that perishes when force ceases ? If it is necessary to obey by compulsion, there is no need to obey from duty; and if men are no longer forced to obey, obligation is at an end. We see then, that this word Right adds nothing to force; it here means nothing at all. Obey the powers that be. If that means, Yield to force, the precept is good but superfluous; I reply that it will never be violated. All power comes from God, I admit; but every disease comes from him too; does it follow that we are prohibited from calling in a physician ? If a brigand should surprise me in the recesses of a wood, am I bound not only to give up my purse when forced, but am I also morally bound to do so when I might conceal it? For, in effect, the pistol which he holds is a superior force. Let us agree, then, that might does not make right, and that we are bound to obey none but lawful authorities. Thus my original question ever recurs. CHAPTER IV. Slavery. Since no man has any natural authority over his fellow- men, and since force is not the source of right, conventions r...« less