Social Contract Theory Essay

Analytical Summary: Can Contract Theory Explain Social Preferences? One of the revolutionary changes in the economic thinking is taking into account the effect of social preferences on economic activities. During the last two decades, experimental economics showed that, social preferences play an important role on the economic activities. For example, Knack and Keefer (1997) proved that, trust and civic duty have important contribution to economic growth. Also, Slemrood (2003) find out that, real

idea was that people were citizens of a state or empire. By the sixth century a different idea formed and that was Citizenship. Citizenship is the status given by a government to some or all of its people. Each citizen had a balance called social contract theory of citizenship which was their individual rights such as the right to vote, and their individual responsibilities, such as the duty to serve one country. Romans citizen was more judged on how their behavior was towards the family, neighbors

and thrive on a unified behavioral agreement amongst their people that can be governed rationally. This unified behavior is commonly known as the social contract. This contract is said to be a way of nature and some philosophers believe it to be a gimmick for social institutions to control and manipulate their people. To explicate this social contract even further, I will be focusing on Sigmund Freud’s, a scientific materialist, and Karl Marx’s, a revolutionary socialist, concepts on community norms

different opinion on the theory of a social contract but also did help develop the theory. He believed that people were naturally good but were corrupted by society that was lead to inequalities of people and this would cause war, hate and crime against each other. The only thing that matters is the will of people. Today, Rousseau is looked as a champion of democracy for his idea that political authority lies with the people. He has also influenced political and social change for the last two hundred

a norm and agreed to by a majority. The following pages show how modern social contract theory especially

efforts various theories of morality have been developed, all of which have their own successes and shortcomings. Many religious believers look to the Divine Command Theory for moral guidance. This theory states that if God commands you to do act A, then it is your moral obligation to do A. An issue with the divine command theory is that it suggests that God could have chosen to make killing morally right and helping other wrong which is against our deep moral convictions. Another theory is Act Consequentialism

The Social Contract: Hobbes vs. Rousseau Since the beginning of the modern age, governments and states have existed in order to maintain moral law. Essentially these institutions are for the greater good of humanity. However, little thought is ever given to how humans lived without governments. Each and every person in the modern age is born into a state, and becomes a part of that state regardless of their will. The concept that humans are born into a state is derived from the social contract. The

The Social Contract: Hobbes vs. Rousseau Since the beginning of the modern age, governments and states have existed in order to maintain moral law. Essentially these institutions are for the greater good of humanity. However, little thought is ever given to how humans lived without governments. Each and every person in the modern age is born into a state, and becomes a part of that state regardless of their will. The concept that humans are born into a state is derived from the social contract. 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). The basic

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