Advantages And Disadvantages Of Social Contract Theory

The term social contract represents implied agreements by which people form democracy’s and maintain a social order. This means that the individuals give up some of their rights to a government in order to receive security and social order. The social contract theory rationalizes why it is in one’s best interest to willingly give up their natural rights in order to acquire the many benefits provided by a social structure. I will argue that the social contract theory justifies the concept that state authority must be derived from the consent of the governed and that the covenant of the governed rationalizes political authority, therefore Hobbes argument is more convincing. Throughout the essay I will be discussing the rationale for the†¦show more content†¦But in the real world necessities are in limited supply, so as we compete for the same things, which then we quickly come to view other individuals as enemies. We equally want goods that are limited. The secon d problem then is that, once we acquire those goods such as food, we immediately become worrisome of people wanting to steal it from us, therefore we hurt them so they are no longer capable of that. Hobbes argues that in a state of nature there are no morals meaning individuals can do whatever they want. We simply cannot flourish to our best ability within the state of nature which leads us to the Social Contract Theory. In order to live to our best ability out society requires a unified social order, which requires rules. To escape the state of nature, there has to be a way to come together. Humans have selfish tendencies and are unable to live in social societies without rules and laws. In order to get the benefits of social living, we have to agree to follow some kind of moral guidelines under the threat of punishment from the government. This is where the social contract becomes the main foundation for our moral accountability towards one another. With this social contract the government’s role is to be an advocate of harmony and punish those who break the agreements. The Social Contract is where, â€Å"morality consists in the set of rules governing behavior, that rational people wouldShow MoreRelatedAn Understanding Of Morality By Using A Social Contract Essay1795 Words   |  8 PagesContractualist ethical theories have proposed answers to these questions. Contractualist ethical the ories are essentially theories that explain morality by using a social contract, or agreement. In order to determine whether contractualism has been successful at answering questions of morality a comparison of the two main contractualist theories is necessary. 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