Sociology and Contractualism: a Critical Reading of Hobbes and Kant

  • Víctor Hugo Ligarribay Universidad Nacional de Salta
Keywords: contractarianism/contractualism, classical sociological theory, state of nature, categorical imperative, moral fact

Abstract

The present essay aims to establish a sociological criticism of the contractarianism theory.   This article focuses on the problematization of the philosophical and political contributions of two of the greatest exponent of natural laws: Thomas Hobbes and Immanuel Kant. In the first part, we analyze the concept related to the state of nature as a metaphor for the market society, developing Marx’s critic to the theoretical separation between State and civil society. Later, we consider the notion of social contract and its importance in legitimating the moral order. For  this purpose, we will go back to Emile Durkheim’s contributions to the concept of categorical imperative developed by Kant as well as to some critical aspects developed from the structuralism’s sociological point of view. Finally, we will attempt to determine the current validity of the contractual theory, both in its possibilities and in its explanatory limitations.

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Author Biography

Víctor Hugo Ligarribay, Universidad Nacional de Salta

Licenciado en Sociología por la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Auxiliar docente en la ma- teria Estado, poder y medios de la carrera de Ciencias de Comunicación de la Universidad Nacional de Salta; docente a cargo en las materias Sociología y Teoría Social en las carre- ras de Psicología y Trabajo Social de la Universidad Católica de Salta. Estudiante del Doctorado en Humanidades en la Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. 

Published
2017-12-22
How to Cite
Ligarribay, V. H. (2017). Sociology and Contractualism: a Critical Reading of Hobbes and Kant. Cuadernos Universitarios, (X), 121-127. Retrieved from http://200.10.180.182/index.php/CU/article/view/47
Section
Colaboraciones