Is the original contract the basis of government?

1. WHAT HE SAID (the record)

Record ledger

• BELIEF (undated): David Hume believes that political writers who argue the original contract as the source of allegiance to government are fallacious and sophistical in their reasoning, though their intended principle is just and reasonable. He argues that the reasoning is flawed, even if the idea of submission to government being conditional on protection and security is valid. "They wou'd prove, that our submission to government admits of exceptions, and that an egregious tyranny in the rulers is sufficient to free the subjects from all ties of allegiance." [1]
• BELIEF (undated): David Hume argues that political duties, including civil allegiance, derive from human conventions, not from a natural or original contract. He suggests that both natural and civil justice have the same source, which is human conventions aimed at remedying inconveniences. "being once undeceiv'd in this particular, and having found that natural, as well as civil justice, derives its origin from human conventions, we shall quickly perceive, how fruitless it is to resolve the one into the other" [2]
• BELIEF (undated): David Hume shows that Sidney believed the original contract is the basis of government, as he maintained principles favorable to liberty, including 'the original contract, the source of power from a consent of the people.' "he had maintained principles, favorable indeed to liberty, but such as the best and most dutiful subjects in all ages have been known to embrace; the original contract, the source of power from a consent of the people" [3]
• BELIEF (undated): David Hume believed that the original contract between king and people was a basis for government, as he argues that King James II forfeited the throne by breaking this contract. This is shown by his statement that James 'had abdicated the government' by violating the contract. "That King James II., having endeavored to subvert the constitution of the kingdom by breaking the original contract between king and people..." [4]
• BELIEF (undated): David Hume believed that the Great Charter became the basis of the English monarchy and a kind of original contract which limited the authority of the king and insured the conditional allegiance of his subjects. [5]
• BELIEF (undated): David Hume believed that the original contract between king and people was a relevant concept in determining the legitimacy of government, as evidenced by the passage discussing the debate over whether King James had broken that contract and whether the throne was thereby vacant. "They debated, 'Whether there were an original contract between king and people?' and the affirmative was carried by fifty-three against forty-six." [6]
• BELIEF (undated): David Hume believed that government is founded on opinion, not on a contract. He argues that governors have no support but opinion, and this applies to all forms of government. [7]

What cuts against it

• BELIEF (undated): David Hume argues that magistrates do not derive their authority from a promise or original contract. "We find, that magistrates are so far from deriving their authority, and the obligation to obedience in their subjects, from the foundation of a promise or original contract, that they conceal, as far as possible, from their people, especially from the vulgar, that they have their origin from thence." [8]

• BELIEF (undated): David Hume believes that the original contract is not the basis of government, because he argues that great revolutions and new settlements of civil constitutions are rarely conducted with public voice or citizen opinion being heard, and that the English Revolution is a rare exception to this. "It happens unluckily for those who maintain an original contract between the magistrate and people, that great revolutions of government, and new settlements of civil constitutions, are commonly conducted with such violence, tumult, and disorder, that the public voice can scarcely ever be heard;" [9]

2. HOW IT APPLIES (reasoning; inference is marked)

1. David Hume acknowledges that political writers argue the original contract as a basis for government, but he criticizes their reasoning as fallacious and sophistical. [1]

2. He argues that magistrates do not derive their authority from a promise or original contract, as rulers conceal this idea from the people, and people do not believe their obedience is based on consent or promise. [8]

3. Hume suggests that the original contract is not the sole or absolute basis of government, as sudden changes in government may not be accepted unless they serve the public good. [10]

4. He believes that the original contract is one of several factors that contribute to the strongest title to sovereignty, but it is not the sole or definitive basis of government. [11]

5. Hume argues that political duties, including civil allegiance, derive from human conventions, not from a natural or original contract. [2]

3. HIS TAKE

Record coverage: PARTIAL

The record is silent on whether the original contract is the sole or definitive basis of government in all cases, and on the specific conditions under which it might be considered valid or invalid.

Extrapolation: David Hume believed that while the original contract may be a relevant concept in determining the legitimacy of government, it is not the sole or definitive basis. He argued that government is founded on a combination of factors, including long possession, present possession, succession, and positive laws, and that these factors often conflict and are resolved not by philosophical reasoning but by force.

Competing readings: One reading is that the original contract is a relevant but not definitive basis for government, as suggested by Hume's discussion of the debate over King James II breaking the contract. Another reading is that the original contract is not a valid basis for government, as Hume argues that magistrates do not derive their authority from it and that great revolutions are rarely conducted with public voice being heard. The record itself supports both readings, as Hume acknowledges the relevance of the original contract in some contexts but criticizes it in others.

Confidence: Moderate

The confidence is moderate because the record shows that Hume acknowledged the relevance of the original contract in some contexts but criticized it in others. The sources are old editions, and the record is not entirely consistent in its treatment of the original contract as a basis for government.