Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Philosophy - Essay Example ture prevails as man is covetous and motivated by desire, appetite and avarice who justifies the employment of violence to protect his treasures or holdings. Violence is thus a means to an end. Left on their own stratagems, men would fight to death even for the slightest reasons. Therefore, man’s propensity to pander his cravings and indulgences makes him evil but these vices likewise impel men to consider peace as medium of self-preservation. A covenant of peace among the protagonists is fragile as any perceived breach rescinds the covenant and hostilities resumes. Hobbes then espoused the creation of State which extracts obedience from the citizenry as it exercises absolute power to maintain the peace but bona fide power resides in the citizenry who can confer power or withdraw recognition at will in case of abuse. On the other hand, Rousseau (1761) submits that men are inherently good but as men began to journey from solitude and sought out humanity, the relatively peaceful, morally balanced and virtuous man was corrupted by arts and sciences. Conversely, when men gained knowledge and social interactions progressed, they begun to conform to certain standards which would dictate their actions. The acquiescence of men therefore to the common consciousness gave rise to a social contract which guarantees freedom under the regime of law. Another view towards the attainment of perpetual peace was advocated by Immanuel Kant (1795), in his treatise, the Second Definitive Article of Perpetual Peace, it was proffered that â€Å"the law of nations shall be founded on a federation of free states† thus the objective of this paper is to probe into the two centuries old exposition, its influence in the creation of the United Nations (UN) and whether the Utopian concept envisage by Kant was fulfilled by the UN in its role towards the prevention of war. The utopian concept was born in the year 1515 when Thomas More drafted his book entitled Utopia published in the year 1562.