Rights in Civil Society - Part Three
The Origin Of Civil Society
1742. From what has been said we see that the essence of civil society consists in its constitution as a power to administer the modality of the rights of a certain mass of human beings. Because this power is unique and supreme, it is called `sovereignty'.
1743. The origin of civil society is multiple. But careful consideration shows that investigating its origin means investigating the origin of the institution of the power which administers the modality of the rights of a certain mass of human beings; in other words, investigating the origin of governments.(59)
1744. The reason for this is that civil society presents two parts:
1. A mass of human beings with individual rights.
2. A power called government that administers the modality of these
rights.
Consideration of only one of these parts must result in false conclusions
about the origin of civil society.
If civil society is considered simply as a mass of human beings, all its
origins are necessarily reduced to a social contract, as we have seen.
If on the other hand only its government is considered, everything is
reduced to an absolute power, or to a particular origin of absolute power, such
as fatherhood, prevalent force, etc.
But when our thought includes both these extremes, so that we compare them and
note their mutual relationship, we find an easy way to reach the real and
complete origins of civil society.
The primary relationship between society and government is normally such that society is created only when government is created. To find the legitimate ways by which society is normally formed, we need therefore to find and list the legitimate ways by which governments are formed. This is the task we must now undertake.
Notes
(59) Aristotle defines a republic by assigning it a government (Pol., 3, 4). Thus, according to him, the origin of civil society is to be found in the origin of governments.