Security, justice, happiness: Volodymyr Yermolenko spoke about the three concepts of the social contract

Aspen Institute Kyiv, on the initiative of the Community Council, started a project devoted to discussing a new Ukrainian social contract. Within the framework of the project, the Institute held three seminars and a discussion. During the conversation, the Ukrainian philosopher, writer, and journalist Volodymyr Yermolenko spoke about the three main concepts of social agreement and demonstrated examples of distinct societies. 

What are the features of the three main concepts of social agreement?

Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are the historical founders of the concept of a social contract. They lived in different times and different contexts, leading to differences in approaches and emphases.

• The life of Thomas Hobbes dates back to the middle of the 17th century. These are terrible times, the 30-year war and then the civil war in Britain. Therefore, the main idea of the social contract is security: a state must be created to guarantee safety for all. That is a safe police concept of the state.
• John Locke’s concept appeared after the Glorious Revolution in England and marked a completely different era in the history of Europe. The main idea here is the state’s duty to take care not only of security but also of justice, to act as a judge when people cannot understand each other. In this case, we are dealing with the judicial concept of the state and the social contract.
• The third concept appears in Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the middle of the 18th century. The main idea here is that the state should return to the happiness that people had before the birth of society and the state. This concept can be called eudaemonistic.

What combination of social contract concepts will best suit Ukraine

According to Volodymyr Yermolenko, the Soviet Union imitated the social contract by combining the concepts of police and eudaemonist states. That means the citizen received happiness through coercion. The modern Russian state continues this path. It convinces its citizens that they are in danger and the state is the only one to protect them.

— Ukrainian tradition is very different. Safety and happiness are separated. In particular, we owe this to the ideas of Hryhoriy Skovoroda, which connect happiness with one’s purpose fulfillment, so called kindred work. Joy in our tradition is as individual and decentralized as possible, – said Volodymyr Yermolenko.

At the same time, the problem in our tradition is that the idea of justice is not rooted. Freedom presupposes the construction of institutions that ensure this justice — an essential component of the liberal tradition.

Volodymyr Yermolenko also shared his thoughts on the future of Ukraine’s social contract:

— In the future social contract, Ukraine should emphasize security greatly. After all, the threat of war with the northern neighbor will not disappear for many more years. The second element should be the sphere of justice with the reform of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies. At the same time, happiness and self-realization should be as individual as possible.

A grant from the National Endowment for Democracy supports the Integrity and Governance program.