2024-04-2512:57 Status:Complete Tags: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Rousseau
Overview
A social contract is a tacit (tacit = implied even though it is not said directly, implicit, something that is implied and is not arguable. Tacit = pre-approval/consent, harder to express) agreement between an individual and society to follow the rules. In general, an individual sacrifices some of their negative rights e.g. attacking someone, theft, things they can do in the wild for positive rights, healthcare, education, things offered by governments in exchange. (Positive rights are things that are not offered by: there is an obligation to award someone a lawyer if they cannot afford it; Negative rights are rights one has without government: freedom of speech, theft, harm etc.) Social contract theorists work on the belief that one consents to the agreement in governments.
General criticism
- The alternative would be a state of nature that no one is really able to properly articulate.
- All believe that government is powered by the people - That is where the virtue comes from
- One cannot really âoptâ out of society: nearly all land is owned, and leaving is contingent on socio-economic background.
- One is born, conditioned and groomed into accepting the contract.
- Wherever you go, there is a state where there is a contract
- Agree with us or die, is not really a choice.
- Prisonerâs dilemma