Given that political obligation may be defined as an obligation to obey the rules and laws set by the state, although aside from this obligation, one would not feel obliged to do so, we find many explanations as to the motives of political obligation as set forth by David Gauthier. In his essay “The Social Contract as Ideology” Gauthier offers a statement given by Thomas Hobbes that “our thoughts and relationships… are best understood by …showed first 75 words of 637 total…

…showed last 75 words of 637 total…the state of nature leads to an outcome far worse for everyone than what would result where there a coercive force sufficient to curb each man’s appetite for power…”(35). So each man finds that it is more beneficial and utility-maximizing for himself to participate willfully in society’s laws and rules. Work Cited Gauthier, David. “The Social Contract as Ideology.” Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology. Ed. Robert E. Goodin, Philip Pettit. Oxford, Blackwell, 2001. 27-42.