GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

476
POLITICS
part, the right to present the person of them all, that is to
say, to be their representative; everyone,
as well he that
voted for ft, as he that voted against it, shall authorize all the
actions and judgments of that man, or assembly of men,
in the same manner as if they were his own/'
It follows that all the acts of the sovereign are such as
members of the community must approve of and consent
to. Even if he puts a member of the community to death
he is, according to Hobbes, expressing and carrying out
that member's own will to be put to death. For example,
Hobbes writes, "If he that attempteth to depose his
sovereign be killed, or punished by him for such attempt,
he is author of his own punishment, as being by the institu-
tion, author of all his sovereign shall do/ 9
Since by virtue
of the contract which results in the formation of society
and the conferment upon the sovereign of absolute powers,
the sovereign's acts are authorized beforehand, he cannot
act unjustly or illegally. He is, therefore, above the law,
irresponsible and unpunishable.
Powers and Functions of the Sovereign. The sove-
reign being the community's agent has supreme power in
the matter of war and peace. He is the sole judge of the
measures necessary for the community's defence, the sole
arbiter of rewards and punishments, die sole appointer of
ministers and judges. He also is alone responsible for
determining what opinions shall be taught in the community,
how its members shall be educated, and by what
laws its people shall be governed. The sovereign may
delegate some or all of these rights, but he cannot dispossess
himself of them without breaking the covenant
upon which society rests, and this, as we have seen, is
the one thing which he cannot do* For it is the law of
nature that "men keep their covenants made" and the
covenant is, therefore, eternal on both sides. Hobbes
does not actually assert that the sovereign whose powers
are so defined shall be one man; yet he is anxious to show
that, so far at least as England is concerned, the king