Civil Law Essay: Assessing Churchill's Statement on Justice

This essay critically examines Winston Churchill's assertion that nations are not always just when strong, and when they strive for justice, they lose their strength. The essay delves into this statement through the lens of political philosophy, primarily drawing upon the works of Aristotle, specifically "The Politics," and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, with a focus on "The Social Contract." It explores Aristotle's concept of the polis and the importance of a good constitution, as well as Rousseau's ideas on the social contract and the fundamental rights of citizens. The essay supports its arguments with examples from past and present times, analyzing how political actions and societal structures impact the balance between justice and national strength, ultimately agreeing with Churchill's statement. The analysis highlights the roles of politicians, fundamental rights, and restrictions imposed by the state to make a nation strong.

RUNNING HEAD: CIVIL LAW
Civil Law

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Introduction
Winston Churchill in House of Common stated, the whole history of the globe is summed up in
the reality that they are not always just when countries are powerful, and when they want to be
fair, they are no longer powerful1. He stated this line in context with that, pursuit of justice
weakens our civilization because we lose trust in ourselves. A nation loses its self-confidence by
losing its truth, because the loss of truth implies the loss of self-confidence. Weakness and loss
of self-confidence will eventually lead to west demise due to self-confidence, which shall
weaken the nation. This paper includes detailed study of two books by the author Aristotle-The
Politics and The Social Contract by Rousseau. It will further discuss that how these two books
support the statement given by Mr. Churchill.
The Politics
According to the Aristotle, the polis or Greek city-state is the largest type of political association.
A person can pursue a life of good quality, which is the ultimate goal of human existence, only
by being a citizen of a polis because only through political association one can attain this
objective; Aristotle concludes, “Man is a social animal.” He concludes that there is no perfect
current town or theory. According to the principle of distributive justice, a good constitution is
established: equal individuals are treated similarly and unfair individuals are treated unequally.
Depending on the contributions they make to the city’s lives, people are considered more or less
important to society.2
Aristotle in his book The Politics quoted that, “ It is of the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and
most men live only for the gratification of it3.”
It means that a person is never satisfied from the things he have. It is in nature of human being to
crave for more. Politicians are never satisfied with their position in politics and they always
crave for much higher post. Once they reach to their desired position they starts to dream about
1 Sir Winston Churchill, Never Give In! Winston Churchill Speeches (A&C Black, 2013) 624
2 Aristotle, Aristotle’s Politics (University of Chicago Press, 2013) 304
3 Thomas L. Pangle, Aristotle's Teaching in the "Politics" (University of Chicago Press,2013) 343

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much higher post. Politicians are always self-centered they have nothing to do with the people of
nation and their problems. Thus, while applying the statement given by Mr. Churchill it can be
said that if the politicians look after the problems of people and solve their issue then it can be
said that the nation may become strong.
The Social Contract:
Rousseau’s main argument in the Social Contract is that “government achieves its rights to exist
and regulate by the approval of the governed.”4 This may not seem a concept too severe today,
but when The Social Contract was released, it was a radical stance. The Social Contract is one of
the most significant statements in the history of western political philosophy about the natural
rights of man. It brought the concept of the approval of the governed and the people’s inalienable
sovereignty in fresh and strong ways, as opposed to the state sovereignty or its ruler(s)5.
The Social contract of Rousseau’s starts with the most popular phrases he ever wrote:
“Men are born free, yet everywhere they are in chains6”
Rousseau’s research discusses liberty more than any other issue of political philosophy and seeks
to clarify how man is blessed with an enviable complete liberty in the state of nature. Firstly,
natural person is physically safe because he is not restricted by a repressive government
mechanism or dominated by his fellow people. Secondly, because he is not bound by any of the
artificial requirements that characterize contemporary nature, he is mentally and intellectually
free. A particularly insightful and revolutionary element of Rousseau’s philosophy is this second
feeling of liberty, the liberty from need. Rousseau thought that enslavement of modern man to
his own requirements was accountable for all kinds of social ills, from exploitation and other
people’s domination to bad self-esteem and depression. He thought that good government should
have as its most basic goal the liberty of its entire people.
4 Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract Discourses (Create Space Independent Publishing
Platform,2015) 248
5 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, (E-Artnow,2018) 198
6 Brian Skyrms, Evolution of the Social Contract, (Cambridge University Press,2014) 148

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In specific, the social contract is an effort by Rousseau to imagine the type of state that best
affirms the individual freedom of its entire people with certain constraints integral to composite,
recent, civil community. He recognized that, as soon as land and regulations occur, Individual in
contemporary culture can never be safe as they are in the state of nature, as Marx and many other
Jurist and anarchist social philosophers reflected subsequently. Nevertheless, Rousseau firmly
thought in the presence of certain rules of governance, which, if implemented, could provide
members of community with a standard of liberty that would at least approximate the liberty
experienced in the state of nature. He describes in the Discourse on Inequality and The Social
Contract, the condition of nature is the hypothetical, ancient location and moment in which
human resides in culture without being corrupted. The most significant feature of the state of
nature is that individuals have full physical liberty and are free to do what they want. In his
contrast of contemporary culture and the condition of nature, he involves an assessment of
human need as one component. “Needs outcome from emotions, which create individual, want
an item or activity, according to him. Human demands in the state of nature are exclusively
restricted to items that guarantee survival and reproduction, including nutrition, and sleep7.
Rousseau further continues on to explain the countless forms in which the ties of civil society
prevent man’s natural birthright to physical liberty from this provocative opening. He states that
civil society is doing nothing to uphold the equality and freedom of the person that was pledged
to man when he joined that society. Thus, the statement given by Churchill is somewhat true
because if the fundamental rights are given to the citizens and they are free to enjoy their rights
without any restriction then the nation may become strong8.
Conclusion
The statement given by the Winston Churchill is correct because as per the Politics by Aristotle,
politicians play an important role in welfare of society and people. If the people are happy and
satisfied with the services of these politicians then the nation may become strong. Similarly, the
social contract by Rousseau also defines about the fundamental rights of freedom, which is
7 Ryan Muldoon, Social Contract Theory for a Diverse World: Beyond Tolerance, ( Routledge,2016) 142
8 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Of The Social Contract and Other Political Writings, (Penguin UK, 2012) 400

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available to every citizen. If no restrictions are imposed by the state and people are free to enjoy
their rights then it makes the nation strong.

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Bibliography
Aristotle, Aristotle “Politics” (University of Chicago Press, 2013)
Churchill, Sir Winston, Never Give In! Winston Churchill Speeches (A&C Black, 2013)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Of The Social Contract and Other Political Writings, (Penguin UK,
2012)
Muldoon, Ryan, Social Contract Theory for a Diverse World: Beyond Tolerance,
(Routledge,2016)
Pangle, Thomas L., Aristotle's Teaching in the "Politics" (University of Chicago Press,2013)
Rousseau, Jean Jacques, The Social Contract Discourses (Create Space Independent Publishing
Platform, 2015).
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, The Social Contract, (E-Artnow,2018)
Skyrms Brian, Evolution of the Social Contract, (Cambridge University Press,2014)