Social Contrast Theory

1795 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social contract theory by Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau

The notion of Social Contract bears its foundations since antiquity, from the Ancient Greek and Stoic philosophy to the Roman and Canon Law (laws/regulations codified by the Ecclesiastical Authority) while it is also hinted in the Biblical Covenant (a religious covenant to the Abrahamic Religions). During the primeval period, the notion of Social Contract predicated that individuals were born into existence within a chaotic/anarchic state whereby, according to differing versions of the Social Contract theory, individuals were either happy or oppressed within it. Thus, individuals by using their natural reason ultimately sought refuge under a “unitary authority” to rule them, while consenting/surrendering to it some of their liberties with the objective of protecting their remaining rights/liberties; by doing so societies were to be formed with “political/social” order. However, despite its longevity the revolutionary breakthrough of the Social Contract theory appeared sturdily during the Age of Enlightenment (17th & 18th century); a period of escalating reason and individualism gradually replacing the traditional/faith form of beliefs; which was inaugurated by a cultural movement of intellectuals promoting scientific methods/scepticism to further enhance knowledge. Great theorists such as Hugo Grotius (1625), Thomas Hobbes (1651), Samuel Pufendorf (1673), John Locke (1689), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1762), Immanuel Kant (1797) and others; all had differing arguments regarding the aforementioned theory of Social Contract and explored it in different dimensions. The key question all these great theorists sought to answer was to discover the reason behind the “voluntary-consent” of individuals to relinquish certain amount of their libe... ... middle of paper ... ... It is a challenging feat, since it requires an empowering sense of citizenship and of communal bonding; it also requires repudiating the sense of extreme “individualism” and/or “secularism”; so as to promote the sense of membership in the “West”. Individuals with the sense of communal belonging further promote unity/trust among the multiple “strangers” of a society thus the feeling of membership becomes stronger; as Christianity promoted centuries ago on the formation of “West’s” Social Contract. Works Cited http://www.thewashingtonreview.org/articles/the-west-and-the-rest-globalization-and-terrorist-threat-by-roger-scruton.html http://billmuehlenberg.com/2005/09/21/a-review-of-the-west-and-the-rest-by-roger-scruton/ http://www.enotes.com/topics/west-rest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/550994/social-contract

Show More
Related

  • Brian Skyrms? Evolution of the Social Contract

    1637 Words  | 4 Pages

    Skyrms’ explorations in Evolution of the Social Contract are based on the premise that human beings are, in fact, inclined to behave justly. His writings do not aim to prove that individuals act justly all the time; however they assert that the disposition exists in societies. Many would take issue with Skyrms’ assertion. Firstly, justice has many interpretations. According to some, equal division of a resource is not always what justice requires. Skyrms fails to address situations where an individual may have worked harder than another for a resource, and invested more time in it. Perhaps one individual would obtain more utility from a given amount of a resource than another would. Libertarians would demand property rights, and argue that one individual might better utilize the resource than the other, creating more benefit for society. Skyrms also fails to give specific interpretations of justice and does not offer any thoughts on what ideas of justice, if any, are cultural universals.

    Read More

  • Thomas Hobbes Chapter 6 Summary

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main idea of chapter six is about the Social Contract Theory and the perspectives of a couple important people who helped develop it. Thomas Hobbes was a philosopher who believed that morality does not depend on God, natural purpose, or altruism. His main belief is that morality is, "...the solution to a practical problem that arises for self-interested human beings." Moreover, Hobbes believed that if there was no way to enforce social rules then everyone would do as they please, he called this "the state of nature." According to him, this would be destructive for society because of four basic facts about human life. These basic facts are that there is no equality of need, there is scarcity, there is the essential equality of human power, and there is limited altruism. In simplicity, everyone wants these basic things but there's not enough to go around; this puts the society in a "constant state of war." Hobbes states that if we want to escape from the state of nature, we have to find a way to work together. In order to establish a successful society, everyone must abide by a certain set of rules and someone must enforce them. Hobbes calls this "the social contract," the contracts allows people to care for one another instead of being in a constant state of nature; this is possible because it allows us to be released from "the constant fear of violent death."

    Read More

  • Thomas Hobbes and the Social Theory Contract

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamilton harkens to the great English Philosopher, Thomas Hobbes and the Social Theory Contract for a clear understanding of the issues. The Social Contract Theory is the basis for the Declaration of Independence and the guiding t...

    Read More

  • Thomas Hobbes V For Vendetta

    1604 Words  | 4 Pages

    To begin, philosophy, which means the love of wisdom, is the study of knowledge. The study of philosophy has evolved and is continually growing, however its foundations are firmly rooted in classical philosophers and their valuable attributions to the field of study.. Thomas Hobbes’ was a political philosopher alive in the 1500’s. One of his main inquiries as a philosopher was to establish a way for humans to co-exist peacefully. (Reid, Jeffrey) Hobbes conception of the social contract will be briefly introduced, as his understanding will serve as the definition of social contract for the purpose of this paper. Hobbes contemplated how and why human beings acted the way they do through two differing approaches.. Hobbes examined the difference between the right of nature and the law of nature. To explore the right of nature Hobbes explained that “if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies; and in the way to their end (which is principally their own conservation, and sometimes their delectation

    Read More

  • Utilitarianism Vs. Social Contract

    1132 Words  | 3 Pages

    And the moral rules that are rules of the society, started as a politicked theory [7]. Social contract is the moral rules, and the moral rules are the rules are the rules of the society. It started as a politicked theory, which is the law to moral theory, which is the ethics. It means that a law justice. And from Plato’s Republic, the moral action is an action is moral if and only if an action is permitted by laws that all equal, rational, free people agree to follow, provide that everyone else follows them. Social contract is from the nature of human to basic instinct and to kill and to sacrificing some freedom to exchange security.

    Read More

  • Social Construction Of Differences

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    What I learned about the social construction of difference conceptually means the differences in society that people perceive individuals are morally consist of gender and race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and social class. Theoretically, according to Allan Johnson, social construction of difference, is created between two groups, one groups that has privileges and the ability to pass through society as “normal’. Some humans that are considered to be the oppressed are “non-normal and do not get the same privileges of the domain group. Johnson also uses the example of American woman who has not had any contact with white society. As of what the women knows, she is merely aware that she is an African American woman, not considered to be a black woman, in her state of

    Read More

  • Natural Law, Rationality and the Social Contract

    2087 Words  | 5 Pages

    Each day, billions of people throughout the world affirm their commitment to a specific idea; to be part of a society. While this social contract is often overlooked by most citizens, their agreement to it nevertheless has far-reaching consequences. Being a member of society entails relinquishing self-autonomy to a higher authority, whose aim should be to promote the overall good of the populace. While making this decision to become part of a commonwealth is usually performed without explicit deliberation, there is a common consensus amongst philosophers that something unique to the human experience is the driving force behind this decision. Contained within this something are highly contested points of debate amongst both past and contemporary political philosophers. Two such philosophers are Thomas Hobbes and Thomas Aquinas. Each of these political writers provide detailed arguments regarding the concept of natural law, the role that reason plays in this law, whether some laws are considered truly rational, and why some people choose not to follow certain principles even when they recognize them to be rational. By analyzing each of these arguments, we will arrive at the conclusion that even though the rational principles that reason provides us can easily be disregarded by the populace, that we can still find a common good within promulgating rational doctrine.

    Read More

  • The Scientific Revolution and The Enlightenment

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    SparkNotes: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778): The Social Contract. (n.d.). SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Retrieved February 9, 2011, from http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/rousseau/section2.rhtml

    Read More

  • The State of Nature: Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury

    1681 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this essay, I will present three reasons as to why the absolute authority of the sovereign in Hobbes’s state of nature and social contract is justified. The three reasons Hobbes uses are: the argument from contract, the argument from authorisation and the argument from weakness of mixed or divided sovereignty. Firstly, I shall explain Hobbes’s understanding of human nature and the natural condition of humanity which causes the emergence of the social contract. I shall then analyse each argument for the absolute authority of the sovereign being justified. I shall then consider possible objections to Hobbes’s argument. I shall then show why Hobbes’s argument is successful and the absolute authority of the sovereign is justified.

    Read More

  • Declaration Of Rights Of Man, By Jean-Jacques Rousseau

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the history of the world, people have been constantly fighting for their rights. Whether those rights be as simple as being able to hold your own opinion, or as complicated as being held against your will, even today, our society continues to struggle with the complete and total freedom of man. Of course, our freedoms in the present day are much more developed and superior to those in the past, it is still important to understand exactly how we got to where we are today in order to continue to improve our society as a whole. In 1763, Jean-Jacques Rousseau developed The Social Contract in which it discusses the contract between all members of society and the basic rights humans should oblige by. In the work, he discusses the mutual

    Read More

  • Rousseau's Theory Of Alienation

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rousseau’s version of the social contract depends on his characteristics of “the state of nature”. Rousseau once said “Man is born

    Read More

  • Difference Between John Locke And Rousseau

    1750 Words  | 4 Pages

    John Locke’s social contract theory applies to all types of societies in any time era. Although, Jean-Jacques Rousseau did write during the Renaissance era, his philosophy limits itself to fix the problem of an absolute monarchy and fails to resolve other types of societies. These philosophers have such profound impacts on modern day societies. For example, the United States’ general will is codified in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, meanwhile individual rights are distinguished in the Declaration of

    Read More

  • Leon Festinger's Social Comparison Theory

    1855 Words  | 4 Pages

    Festinger developed the theory after observing interactions among social groups while he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His observations led to his analyzes on how certain groups interact with one another and how individuals are influenced through behavioral norms and expectations. Festinger’s Social Comparison theory is a framework that provides

    Read More

  • Locke vs Hobbes: Debating Social Contract Theory

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Locke and Thomas Hobbes are two well-known philosophers who discussed and developed the social contract theory on the principle of “natural law”. Hobbes believed that men should be strongly governed because they cannot look after themselves. As of human nature he believed that society could not exist except by the power of the state. He was convinced that all humans were naturally selfish and wicked. Without government to keep order Hobbes said, there would be "war of every man against every man," and life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." So for none of that to happen he supposed that people had to hand over their rights to a strong ruler.

    Read More

  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights

    1354 Words  | 3 Pages

    Friend, Celeste. "Social Contract Theory [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Hamilton College, 15 Oct. 2004. Web. 01 Oct. 2011. .

    Read More

More about Social Contrast Theory

Open Document