The Leviathan in the Original Position: The Unacknowledged Influence of Thomas Hobbes on the Social Contract of John Rawls

Abstract

A comparative study between the political philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Rawls is presented in this thesis. The project serves to trace the unacknowledged influence that Hobbes had on the nature of the social contract that Rawls presents in A Theory of Justice. After the initial remarks framing the discussion are made, the thesis critically examines the nature of bargaining in the social contract and concludes that Rawls relied heavily on Hobbes for some of his most famous procedural mechanisms in his work.