Fundamentals of Ethics: Social Contract Theory Essay

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Social contract theory is extensively associated with modern moral and political theories. It holds that one’s actions are moraly right because they are allowed by the rules that rational, free, and equal people agree to confine their lives to on the basis that others live by the same rules (Shafer-Landau, 2014). This means that an individual’s political and moral duties depend on a contract operational within the society – a position which is strongly defended by Thomas Hobbes (Shafer-Landau, 2014). As such the theory delineates that the scope of the moral community is dependent on a state of nature that is equated to anarchy (Shafer-Landau, 2014). Therefore, the community has no social goods since there is nonexistent social cooperation to facilitate their production.

Nonetheless, the theory is objected to on the basis that it is underpinned by fictitious concepts. This is because of the lack of an actual contract. The objection holds that in such a case, there never was an existent state of nature, which means that an explicit covenant was never used to get out of the given state (Shafer-Landau, 2014). This reflects on the worthiness of the theory’s primary ideas as it devalues the different scenarios forwarded by Thomas Hobbes and even the famous prisoner’s dilemma. Nonetheless, the objection is still heavily relevant as the theory in essence explicitly lacks an agreement.

However, even though there lacks a physical signed contract, the theory advances the notion of an implicit one. As such, most human beings enter into a virtual agreement willingly whenever they participate in societal activities and enjoy the given benefits (Shafer-Landau, 2014). Additionally, even if the covenent is non-existent, the formation of a social contract would still be in the best interest of human beings (Shafer-Landau, 2014). This would justify the need for the state of nature and the desire to abide by morality dictated within such societies.

Reference

Shafer-Landau, R. (2014). The fundamentals of ethics. Oxford University Press.

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