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The Social Contract Theory
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The Social Contract Theory
For starters, what exactly is “Social Contract Theory?” It is a theory which basically represents the view that the political and moral obligation of a person depends on an agreement or contract. For instance, if a person is living in a society, they will be following the setup, rules and regulation that everyone within that community follows. One can have a better understanding through a supposed situation. Assume, that there is no God, there is no concept of reward and virtue, there are no natural functions, and human beings are self-centered naturally. What would be the means of morality after that? This is a tricky situation as mankind will not have a foundation to base morality on.
One of the leading British Philosophers Thomas Hobbes believed that morality is not dependent on any of the above-mentioned factors and determinants. He believed that morality should be looked at as a possible solution for issues that can arise due to self-centered humans. Further, Hobbes is a psychological egoist and one way or the other he believes the fact that in nature humans always act selfishly (Rachels, Rachels, 2019). However, there are certain limitations to what Hobbes has to say. He lived in a time when there were long religious fights in Europe. So, the people Hobbes observed were mostly young European men. Further, Hobbes personal experience might have added a bias to his theory as well. One of his biggest fears was political and social chaos, and Hobbes saw and suffered greatly in it as well. Another issue with psychological egoism is that it can be proven wrong since it is said to be an empty claim. The reason behind is the fact that no act can be deemed selfish as there is always a motivation behind whatever a person does.
Further, “state of nature” is a scary place to live. Imagine a place with no laws, regulations, and police. People would function mainly on desire. Hobbes believed that the fairness of need, scarcity, vital equality of human power and limited self-sacrifice will make things very difficult for everyone (Rachels, Rachels, 2019). Together these facts paint a very scary picture as we all need the basic necessities to live a good life.
References
Rachels, J., Rachels, S., (2019). The Elements of Moral Philosophy (9th ed.). Mc-Graw Hill Education.
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