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The Pros And Cons Of Social Contract

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Social contract denotes that a government or sovereign body exists only to serve the will of the people because the people are the source of political power that is enjoyed by the entity. The people can choose to give or withdraw the power. Not all philosophers agree that the social contract creates rights and obligations; on the contrary, some believe that the social contract imposes restrictions that restrict a person’s natural rights. Individuals who live within the society gain protection by the government from others who may pursue to cause them injury, in exchange, the citizens, must relinquish individual liberties like the capability to commit wrongdoings without being reprimanded, and they should contribute to making society…show more content…
Hobbes believed that in nature people had to do whatever was necessary to survive and that even if living together, people were still likely to fight. His view of people was dark and most likely due to the horrors of a series of political schemes and armed conflicts he had seen during the English Civil War. He believed that a contract was necessary. Hobbes felt that people were not capable of living in a democratic society. Instead, a single dominant ruler was needed, and if everyone did their part, then the community would function smoothly. Hobbes’ theory is unlike Locke and Rousseau’s. He believed that once the people gave power to the government, the people gave up the right to that power. It would essentially be the cost of the safety the people were seeking.
John Locke argues that people deserve life, liberty, and property which are all an essential part of the social contract. The government needs to guard individuals’ lives and safeguard the freedom of prosperity and impose laws that are structured to reward efforts which improve society economically. Locke’s Contractual Theory of Government says that people must willingly do things like pay taxes and serve in the military, but in return, the government had to listen to their desires and provide for their needs. John Locke’s philosophy is one that we are all familiar with because his ideas were used in our Constitution by our founding fathers. According to the United States Senate, “We the
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