A theologian might say that Hume derives government from original sin; to which he would have replied by denying the fall.

His whole attitude is simply an insistence that utility is the touchstone of institutions, and he may claim to be the first thinker who attempted its application to the whole field of political science.

He knows that opinion is the sovereign ruler of mankind, and that ideas of utility lie at the base of the thoughts which get accepted.

He does not, indeed, deny that fear and consent enter into the attitude of men; he simply asserts that these also are founded upon a judgment of utility in the thing judged.

We obey because otherwise "society could not subsist," and society subsists for its utility.