Tentative Response

3. Hobbes makes a sharp distinction of life among men before and after the covenant (later called the social contract). What is that distinction.

Before the social contract, Hobbes states that the world was in what he calls the "state of nature." In this setting, there was no rulers or governments, and this state is where Hobbes's famous quote about life being "...nasty, brutish, and short" appears. To Hobbes, "the state of nature" consisted of constant bickering and chaos which in order to be stopped gave rise to the formation of governments. In this case, governments and authority provided protection and stability to those within the community. The social contract theory essentially designates that it is favorable to give up some liberties by being obedient to authority because that authority will provides protection and stability. Therefore, we see that the state of nature was a state where liberties were never limited, and as a result, chaos ensued, prompting the formation of governments. John Locke later expands upon this theory, and it even made its way into the contemporary American politics. For example, in the Tinker VS Des Moines court case, a student's freedom of expression was limited because of the threat it posed towards the country in the time of war.