The social contract was introduced by early modern thinkers—
Hugo Grotius
Although similar ideas can be traced to the Greek Sophists, social-contract theories had their greatest currency in the 17th and 18th centuries and are associated with the
English philosophers Thomas Hobbes
and John Locke and the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
| Title page of the first octavo edition | Author Jean-Jacques Rousseau | Original title Du contrat social; ou, Principes du droit politique | Country France (edited in Amsterdam) | Language French |
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The normative social contract, argued for by Rousseau in The Social Contract (
1762
), is meant to respond to this sorry state of affairs and to remedy the social and moral ills that have been produced by the development of society.
Social contract theory says
that people live together in society in accordance with an agreement that establishes moral and political rules of behavior
. … Over the centuries, philosophers as far back as Socrates have tried to describe the ideal social contract, and to explain how existing social contracts have evolved.
Analysis. Rousseau’s central argument in The Social Contract is
that government attains its right to exist and to govern by “the consent of the governed
.” Today this may not seem too extreme an idea, but it was a radical position when The Social Contract was published.
Social contract
attempts to evaluate and show the purpose and value of the organized government by comparing and contrasting the civil society and the state of nature
. It has played a role of identifying the useful government to the western communities and the best state of governance to hold.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ideas of the social contract heavily influenced the American revolutionary generation. It was the
idea that government exists with consent of the governed that led the revolutionaries to break free of Britain
.
Hobbes theory of Social Contract
supports absolute sovereign without giving any value to individuals
, while Locke and Rousseau supports individual than the state or the government. … He rules out a representative form of government. But, Locke does not make any such distinction.
The average reader will spend
3 hours and 38 minutes
reading this book at 250 WPM (words per minute). These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has not ceased to stir vigorous debate since its first publication in 1762.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, born in Geneva in 1712, was one of the 18th century’s most important political thinkers. His work focussed on the relationship between human society and the individual, and contributed to the ideas that would lead eventually to the French Revolution.
The parties are described as (1) motivated by self-interest, in as much as they will only agree to the contract if they perceive that they will benefit from social interaction; (2) concerned for the welfare of others, if only because they recognize that the advantages they expect to derive from the social contract will …
The theory of social contract is
still relevant in our contemporary political philosophy
regarding the issue of the political authority legitimization.
Through a legitimate government via a social contract, no war exists between people since all political power is rested in an entity, such as a government, that all people consent to. Hence,
liberty is enhanced for all
.
political philosophy
Government (1690) by Locke and The Social Contract (1762) by
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712–78) proposed justifications of political association grounded in the newer political requirements of the age.
| code of conduct rule of law | societal agreement societal rules |
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