Social Contract Essay - 1355 Words

Social Contract The quality of your individual life would greatly improve in utopia. The burdens you face from corporate monopolies, the overwhelming weight of the devaluation of your currency and the lack of faith in your neighbors to achieve a civilization of peace and mutual respect has taken its toll for too long. Although this sounds as if it was taken directly from George Orwell’s book (1984) itself, the propaganda of a utopian government rule and the current everlasting war breathes as it’s on self-reliant organization today. Weary of the multiple political parties that are emerging every three seconds, we are faced with a question that has been proposed since the beginning of logical thinking. Is it†¦show more content†¦The social contract, rather the ideology surrounding the social contract which can be traced back to the imprisonment of Socrates, argues that Socrates refused to escape due to his feeling that it would undermine the values he f elt obligated to of Athens. This may be difficult to comprehend at first. A teacher accepting imprisonment for trying shape the minds of the youth with logic seems unheard of. Yet Socrates accepted his ill fate arguing the point that by his choosing to live in Athens, he was compelled to live by its laws. Dissecting his defiance to escape wrongful imprisonment, we can find the basis of the social contract which is that the people give up their physical freedoms and agree to abide by centralized laws and rules via mutual consent in order to maintain a civil and peaceful society. John Rawls, who is an American political philosopher, urges for a heightened idea of the social contract in his book â€Å"A Theory of Justice† when he states â€Å"the guiding idea is that the principles of justice for the basic structure of society are the object of the original agreement. They are the principles that free and rational persons concerned to further their own interest would accept in an initial position of equality as defining the fundamental terms of their association. These principles are to regulate all further agreements; they specify the kinds ofShow MoreRelatedThe Function of a Social Contract1676 Words   |  7 PagesWhat is the Function of a Social Contract? Philosophers have been concerned with the theories of a social contract for thousands of years. Plato mentions the concept in Crito and in Republic. These theories have stemmed from the concept of justice and for our society to be just. I will look at the works of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau and finally with John Rawls after which a overall view into the function of a social contract can be derived as well as any problems with the theory(s)Read MoreEssay Social Contract664 Words   |  3 Pages The Social Contract- nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Rousseaus principal aim in writing The Social Contract is to determine how freedom may be possible in civil society, and we might do well to pause briefly and understand what he means by quot;freedom.quot; In the state of nature we enjoy the physical freedom of having no restraints on our behavior. By entering into the social contract, we place restraints on our behavior, which make it possible to live in a community. By giving up our physicalRead MoreThe Theory Of Social Contract1709 Words   |  7 Pagesnot an action is deemed ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ can be understood in terms of contracts, and is furthered with the theory of social contract. Additionally, contractualism can be distinguished from Hobbesian contractualism (also known as contractarianism) and Kantian contractualism, whereby the former looks to contracts made by individuals of a society for the sake of personal gain and benefit, while the latter sees to contracts made b y individuals of any given society that consider each other and themselvesRead MoreThe Social Contract Theory1357 Words   |  5 PagesThe social contract theory is the belief that people live in a society with an unwritten and socially accepted contract for a relationship between the people and their government. The people follow certain rules to protect themselves from violence and the like. The government in turn enforces those rules. In the absence of a social contract, the state of nature exists which citizens actions are governed by personal morals and beliefs. In any social contract people vest their rights to the authorityRead MoreA Critique Of The Social Contract1946 Words   |  8 Pages A Critique of the Social Contract According To John Locke Introduction John Locke embedded his political ideas in the form of two treatises popularly known as Two Treatises on Civil Government that he authored in 1690. In the first treatise, Locke disagrees with the political and social philosophy of Robert Filmer in his work known as Patriacha, authored in 1654. The second treatise contains Locke’s viewpoint on political philosophy where he expounds the origin, authority and the significance ofRead MoreConceptions of the Social Contract Theory924 Words   |  4 Pagestheir own version of the social contract theory. The social contract theory is a treaty or an agreement that developed a set of laws, organized a functional society, and created the need to be governed. It was put into place when man realized that there was no law. Mankind eventually sought the desire for security and order. To receive security and order people shall voluntarily give up all their rights and freedoms and be obedient to some sort of authority. The social contract the ory is made up of twoRead MoreSocial Contract And The Civil Society979 Words   |  4 Pages The social contract and the push for individuals to enter it rely on some conception of a state of nature. Whilst the expected behaviour of persons in the state of nature differs among the social contract theorists, the classical writings all share one common feature, a â€Å"generalised potential for threat† from other persons (Dicus 2015, p. 105). However, the nature of this threat in the hypothetical state of nature is not verifiable, as is the transition to civil society. The â€Å"signing† of the socialRead MoreJacques And The Social Contract Theory1287 Words   |  6 Pagessupporter of the social contract theory, which is considered by him as the source of states legitimacy, criticises social inequality, authoritarianism and feudalism. As an important social contract theorist, he also elaborates that people are the creators of law as well as the subject of law and because they will provide themselves with the laws they wish to live by, the people s sovereignty is assured by the societies contract that is created (Bertram, 2010). In his writings The Social Contract or PrinciplesRead MoreState of Nature and Social Contract1323 Words   |  5 PagesHobbes and Locke are the founders of social contract theory, Hobbes’ Leviathan was the first political philosophy to discuss social contract theory and the state of nature followed by John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, both of their theories are distinct form each other but yet related. Hobbes and lock are both considered the first classical liberals, they differed from other classical philosophers because of their individualistic society, rather than a communal society that promotes theRead MoreWeaknesses Of Social Contract Theory928 Words   |  4 PagesSocial Contract theory is the idea that in the beginning people lived in the state of nature with no government and laws to regulate them. In order to overcome the issues involved in the state of nature, people entered into agreements to protect themselves and their properties. They did this by uniting, rescinding certain rights under the state of nature, and pledging themselves to an authority that will guarantee certain protections. They all agree to live together under those laws and create a