REGULI ȘI NORME SOCIALE ÎN RENAȘTERE ȘI EPOCA MODERNĂ
SOCIAL RULES AND NORMS IN THE RENAISSANCE AND MODERN ERA

Summary/Abstract: Social Rules and Norms in the Renaissance and Modern Era. This paper presents the main philosophical concepts of the Modern Age that deal with the problem of social rules and norms necessary for the functioning of society: Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Hume and Rousseau. Niccolo Machiavelli presents a series of social rules and norms that apply to the good prince and through which he realizes a revolution of political science. These rules ensure both the success of the prince and the achievement of the ultimate goal that every prince has, that of remaining in power. It is Thomas Hobbes who makes the transition from the natural right of man to the existence of natural laws as a means for the functioning of society. This coincides with the transition from the natural state to the social state of humanity by signing a social pact. John Locke argues that the role of social norms and rules is to achieve the education of a good knight who is useful to society. This education is carried out with severity and fairness, in a private setting and must take into account the personality of the educated person. Within the whole educational process, it is reason that must lead, this being based on critical thinking, while knowledge is constantly subject to a process of improvement. The most important theory of this period belongs to David Hume who was concerned both with the social rules under which society operates and with the existence of safety rules of the society. In the case of former, we can mention the reference to caring for the other or the fair distribution of property; in the case of the latter, we refer to the establishment of private property and the exchange by mutual agreement between citizens. Jean Jaques Rousseau takes the idea of natural law and natural law from Hobbes and argues that there must be social rules and norms that ensure the functioning of society. They belong to the general will and must be formulated in the form of a universal law that applies to all citizens. These laws will guarantee justice and freedom for citizens and will underpin civil society. In addition to these major concepts, the paper also refers to: Denis Diderot who argues that laws are rational and universal, substantiating the theory of positive natural law; Blaise Pascal who talks about the connection between justice and law in substantiating man's social political behavior; Voltaire who argues that there would have been no society if there had not been the idea of justice as a binder of any plurality of persons.

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