The Social Contract

   Introduced during the Enlightenment era, the Social Contract Theory offers a possible explanation of the foundations of governmental authority in what many proponents choose to style "civilised society." While most popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Social Contract's influence can be seen more recently (in 1948) in the United Nations, both in its definition and recognition of Human Rights and its assertion that the consent of a populace is the premise of a legitimate government. Though it owes its name to the written works of Rousseau, one of the most prominent advocates of the theory, it has been explored and addressed by a number of thinkers spanning the past several centuries. Among these were, aside from the aforementioned author of "Du contrat social ou Principes du droit politique," Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Immanuel Kant, to drop just a few of the most recognizable names to subscribe to some version of the theory. Each conceived of it somewhat differently, however.

     To draw any sort of conclusions about the origins of government and society one must consider: the function and purpose of government, and the obligations of and benefits to the citizen, and the "state of nature," which is the deduction of what pre-societal human existence must have looked like. Hobbes supposed, and mentioned in "Leviathon," that the "state of nature" equated to "war of all against all." He supposed that life in such a situation would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." While others disputed his assumptions and characterizations of life before the state, most Social Contract theorists concur that in his most natural condition man is free in the sense that he may pursue his own will. Rousseau famously goes so far as to, in a bout of hyperbole, describe it this way: "Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains." This belief, construed by others as "natural rights," represents an important topic of consensus for advocates, and may even be echoed in the U.S. Declaration of Independence in the phrase "inalienable rights," though many of the Founding Fathers would not be considered to be adherents of The Social Contract in its entirety.
    

The theory presumes that government is a man-made construct rather than a natural occurrence, and aims to identify how and why communities organized into the societies that we recognize today. The conclusion of Social Contract champions is that the legitimacy of a government is derived from the notion of "consent of the governed." The criteria of what constitutes the sort of consent necessary to satisfy the requirements remains a key point of contention, both among proponents and critics.  We'll explore consent and more... next time, on The Social Contract!







Source 1
Source 2
Source 3
Source 4