Sociedade política e contrato social: as perspectivas de Locke e Burke

The aim of this paper is to analyze the concept of the social contract set out in Locke's An Essay Concerning the True Original Extent, and End of Civil Government and in Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France and Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs. We look to the two authors selecting a set of points which we would like to set out, first as they appcar in Locke's thought and then in Burke's, and which illustrate important steps from one author to the other regarding the social contract, and establishing each one's particularity. 1.We begin by defining Civil Society in comparison with the State of Nature, describing why it was established and what this means in terms of human development; 2.From there we go on to analyze the status of the subject in society; 3.We conclude by assessing the power of the citizens and political community to repeal govemment and the different ways in which each author views the stability of the social pact.