School
Social contract theory
Social contract theory holds that political authority and moral rules are justified by what free and equal people would agree to.
Thomas Hobbes, in Leviathan (1651), argued that people would accept an absolute sovereign to escape a war of all against all; John Locke grounded limited government in consent and natural rights; and Jean-Jacques Rousseau sought the general will. In the twentieth century John Rawls revived the idea with the original position, David Gauthier derived morality from rational bargaining, and T. M. Scanlon developed contractualism. On this site it answers questions on contract-based ethics (3.2.4), sovereignty and the state (6.4.3) and political philosophy.
Thinkers of this school
- Thomas Hobbes1588 – 1679
- John Rawls1921 – 2002
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712 – 1778
- David Gauthier1932 – 2023
- T. M. Scanlonb. 1940
Guide: Schools of Philosophy: The Main -isms and the Questions They Answer
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Reading group: Rousseau’s Social Contract in four weeks, in French and English
Every year my terminale students in Dakar meet Rousseau on the syllabus, and every year I find something new in Du contrat social (1762). I'd like to read it slowly with people who will argue. Texts. I'll read the French. For English…
Started by Khady Sène6 replies