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according to thomas hobbes, how should the social contract be structured? multiple choice question. hobbes preferred anarchy, so the social contract merely outlines individual rights. the government protects the rights of individuals but cannot take the rights away. individuals give up most of their rights via the social contract in exchange for protection by a sovereign monarch. hobbes actually believed that society could maintain personal security, which negated the need for a social contract.

User CoperNick
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Final answer:

Thomas Hobbes suggested that a social contract requires individuals to surrender most rights to a sovereign for peace and protection, underpinning an absolute monarchy.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Thomas Hobbes, the social contract should be structured in such a way that individuals give up most of their rights to a sovereign monarch in exchange for protection and order. Hobbes believed that without this contract, life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short", due to constant competition and conflict over limited resources.

This led him to advocate for an absolute monarchy, where the Leviathan, a powerful government, is given supreme authority to enforce the social contract and reduce the state of fear and war that exists in what he called the 'state of nature'. Therefore, the correct answer to how the social contract should be structured, according to Hobbes, is that individuals give up most of their rights via the social contract in exchange for protection by a sovereign monarch.

User Tofandel
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