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SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY
Sociologyindex, Sociology Books 2011
Social Contract
Theory is used metaphorically to suggest that a group of self-interested and
rational individuals came together and formed a contract which created society. Each was
willing to give up a little bit of freedom to create social rules that would protect their
self-interest.
Various proponents of social contract theory attempt to
explain why it is in an individual’s rational self-interest to voluntarily give up
the freedoms one has in order to obtain the benefits of political order.
Social contract is a set of culturally agreed upon norms
that help maintain social solidarity. The elements of the social contract are not
explained or concretely agreed upon - they just become norms. In 'social contract' people
give up freedoms because it is good for the society as a whole.
Social Contract
Theory suggests that individuals were historically prior to societies. It was
this view which sociologist Emile Durkheim argued against in the late nineteenth century
with his claim that society must come before the individual since human culture and
communication can only arise in society.
Social Contract Theory -
Implications for Professional Ethics
Philip H. Jos, College of Charleston, South Carolina
Social contract theorists of the 17th and 18th centuries provide diverse accounts of human
nature and the social processes that shape conflict, cooperation, and compliance. These
ideas are applied to the challenges of contemporary public administration, specifically;
the effort that often underlies both the search for public administration's identity and
professionalization more generally: the effort to build consensus on shared values and
ideals and ensure ethical practice with a minimum of external policing. A consideration of
social contract theory yields a heavy dose of realism when it comes to this objective but
invites neither despondency nor complacency. -
arp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/36/2/139
Toward a New Social Contract Theory in Organization Science
Joseph T. Mahoney, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Anne S. Huff, University of Colorado, James O. Huff, University of Colorado
The article suggests that strategy research (and other management disciplines as well)
should move beyond a neo-Hobbesian approach to contracting toward a new social contract
approach. Work from an agency theory perspective in particular has generated utilitarian
insights, but its description of agent behavior is too limited and its assumptions are not
a useful guide to productive alliances among firms. Altruism, ethics, goodwill, moral
sentiments, and trust need to be placed in the foreground of our vision, and society must
be accepted as the ultimate principal to which both individuals and firms are responsible.
- jmi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/3/2/153
Social Contract Theory is
the view that persons' moral and/or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or
agreement between them to form society. Socrates uses something quite like a social
contract argument to explain to Crito why he must remain in prison and accept the death
penalty. However, Social Contract Theory is rightly associated with modern moral and
political theory and is given its first full exposition and defense by Thomas Hobbes.
After Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are the best known proponents of this
enormously influential theory, which has been one of the most dominant theories within
moral and political theory throughout the history of the modern West. In the twentieth
century, moral and political theory regained philosophical momentum as a result of John
Rawls’ Kantian version of social contract theory, and was followed by other
revisitings of the subject by David Gauthier and others. More recently, philosophers from
different perspectives have criticized Social Contract Theory. In particular, feminists
and race-conscious philosophers have argued that social contract theory is at least an
incomplete picture of our moral and political lives, and may in fact camouflage some of
the ways in which the contract is itself parasitical upon the subjugations of classes of
persons. - iep.utm.edu/s/soc-cont.htm
Why Be Moral? Social Contract Theory Versus Kantian-Christian Morality - KELLY
JAMES CLARK - Journal of Markets & Morality, Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 2003
Abstract: According to social contract theories of morality, right and wrong are nothing
more than the agreement among rationally self-interested individuals to give up the
unhindered pursuit of their own desires for the security of living in peace. I argue that
theism provides a better motivation for rationally self-interested persons to be moral. In
the context of our moral development, we are involved in the project of becoming certain
kinds of persons, and this project must extend into the next life within a community
similar to Kant's kingdom of ends. The temporary squelching of desire necessary for the
common good is rewarded in the long run with long-term desire-satisfaction (including both
self-interested and altruistic desires), but the squelching of desire makes sense only, I
argue, if the moral project continues into the next life. -
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=914561
The European Social Contract and the European Public Sphere
STEPHAN BREDT, Government of the Federal Republic of Germany
European Law Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 61-77, January 2006
Abstract: The possible existence of a European democracy does not depend on the
prerequisite of a homogeneous public sphere but on the understanding of the relationship
between the normative basis of a European democracy - here a social contract - the
structure of the European public sphere and the corresponding institutions. The normative
concept of democracy as expressed in social contract theory is neither bound to the
city-state nor the nation-state, but can be transferred to the European level. To realise
the normative aims of the social contract the democratic institutions have to be - and
were in the city - and the nation-state - adapted to the structure of the respective
public sphere. Two institutional characteristics of the democratic European polity could
correspond to the heterogeneous European public sphere: (1) a cooperation of institutions
with clearly separated and limited competences - contrary to the ideal-type sovereign
institutions with broad competences in the nation-state, and (2) the policy field-oriented
structure - contrary to the more uniform and functional structure of democratic
institutions in the nation-states. - papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=878818
Rousseau's Social Contract and the Functional Integrity of the Group-As-A-Whole
Mark F Ettin, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Jersey
Jean-Jacques Rousseau's social contract theory considered how individuals might be
governed as a group without losing their rights as individuals. He speculated about what
type of group process would support individual freedom and hypothesized about the
formulation of a `general will' to account for the uniformity of belief and action by
which a political body charts a common course. Support for the autonomy of individuals and
the functional integrity of the group-as-a-whole is also critical to the work of group
psychotherapy. This article uses Rousseau's ideas to examine how the group-as-a-whole
configures in order to express its general will, what channels of expression are open to
members within the body politic, and the nature of the relationship between leaders and
followers within the social and therapeutic contract. -
gaq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/1/49
Reciprocity and the Social Contract
Ken Binmore
University College London, UK, k.binmore@ucl.ac.uk
This article is extracted from a forthcoming book, ‘Natural Justice’. It is a
nontechnical introduction to the part of game theory immediately relevant to social
contract theory. The latter part of the article reviews how concepts such as trust,
responsibility, and authority can be seen as emergent phenomena in models that take formal
account only of equilibria in indefinitely repeated games. -
ppe.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/3/1/5
The European Social Contract and the European Public Sphere
Stephan Bredt
Abstract: The possible existence of a European democracy does not depend on the
prerequisite of a homogeneous public sphere but on the understanding of the relationship
between the normative basis of a European democracy—here a social contract—the
structure of the European public sphere and the corresponding institutions. The normative
concept of democracy as expressed in social contract theory is neither bound to the
citystate nor the nation-state, but can be transferred to the European level. To realise
the normative aims of the social contract the democratic institutions have to be—and
were in the city—and the nation state—adapted to the structure of the respective
public sphere. Two institutional characteristics of the democratic European polity could
correspond to the heterogeneous European public sphere: (1) a cooperation of institutions
with clearly separated and limited competences—contrary to the ideal-type sovereign
institutions with broad competences in the nation-state, and (2) the policy field-oriented
structure—contrary to the more uniform and functional structure of democratic
institutions in the nation states. - blackwell-synergy.com
Psychological Contracts: A Nano-Level Perspective on Social Contract Theory - Jeffery
Thompson, David Hart
Abstract: Social contract theory has been criticized as a “theory in search of
application.” We argue that incorporating the nano, or individual, level of analysis
into social contract inquiry will yield more descriptive theory. We draw upon the
psychological contract perspective to address two critiques of social contract theory: its
rigid macro-orientation and inattention to the process of contract formation. We
demonstrate how a psychological contract approach offers practical insight into the impact
of social contracting on day-to-day human interaction. We then articulate several
potentially testable propositions that emerge from this nano-level perspective. Copyright
Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006 -
ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v68y2006i3p229-241.html
Toward a Naturalistic Foundation of the Social Contract
C. Cordes, C. Schubert
Abstract: This paper delivers a step toward a naturalistic foundation of the social
contract. While mainstream social contract theory is based on an original position model
that is defined in an aprioristic way, we endogenize its key elements, i.e., develop them
out of the individuals’ moral common sense. To this end, the biological and social
basis of moral intuitions and empathy are explored. In this context, a key adaptation
during evolution was the one that enabled humans to understand conspecifics as intentional
agents. Since these aspects of behavior are considered to be an exaptation, they are not
amenable to direct genetic explanations or to rationality-based approaches. -
ideas.repec.org/p/esi/evopap/2005-01.html
Rights and Responsibilities in the Light of Social Contract Theory
La Morte, Michael W.
Abstract: Discusses the influence of the social contract on American institutions, due
process when liberty and property are involved, the nature of an individual's
responsibility to the government, and the application of social contract theory to
education. - eric.ed.gov
At Play In The State Of Nature: Assessing Social Contract Theory Through Role Play
Richard Paul Hamilton
Summary
Practitioners are increasingly acknowledging the value of role play. This article
introduces a role play for teaching social contract theory in political philosophy,
specifically the Hobbesian variant. The author summarises the technique and outlines its
pedagogic rationale.
Playing In the State Of Nature
Unlike real games, this role play has no goal and very few prohibitions. Those wishing to
form a civil society and those wishing to subvert it are equally at liberty to use any
means available.[316] The activity is intended for a small group of students (between 9
and 12). The students must imagine that they are in the Hobbesian state of nature. Each is
provided with an identity and all are provided with information about the others. The
basic rules are that the players assumes that Hobbes' state of nature holds, that they
cannot change their character in the course of the game and that they must come together
at various point in the game to suggest a remedy for the situation. Other than that they
are allowed to do as they wish, forming alliances and expelling members as necessary. The
initial conditions are described in the following diagram. - prs.heacademy.ac.uk
Hegel and Social Contract Theory
Patten, Alan
Abstract: Considers how Hegel could both accept the starting point of social contract
theory (the commitment to freedom) and reject what contractarians take to be an obvious
implication of that starting point (the social contract theory of political legitimacy).
It also explores the alternative account of social and political legitimacy that Hegel
draws from the principle of freedom. A major theme of the chapter is the importance that
Hegel attaches to the ways in which the major institutions of the modern community work to
develop and sustain individual free agency. Hegel's main objection to the social contract
theory is that it ignores the function community plays of constituting free individuals.
Through an exploration of Hegel's theory of recognition, the chapter shows that Hegel's
own alternative theory of political legitimacy involves determining what a community must
be like if it is to be successful in fulfilling this function. - ingentaconnect.com
The juristic origins of social contract theory
Black A.
Abstract: This article seeks to explain the rise of social contract as a way of thinking
about government. By social contract I mean the view that human authorities are
established by agreement with their subjects for specific tasks, that their legitimacy
depends upon fulfilment of these tasks, and that such agreements may be enforced by clear,
defined procedures, as one would enforce a contract in private law. - ingentaconnect.com
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