" A person who has accepted the social contract therefore puts aside the anti-social natural inclinations described by Hobbes. In their place, a person agrees to abide by the rules of society and the social order. In a sense, the acceptance of the social contract makes society possible.
At first, it may seem that people lose a significant amount of their natural liberties when they enter into the social contract. However, how much liberty can there be in the bleak state of nature, where one constantly fears attack from other humans?
Rousseau-based analysis would locate more important freedoms in the fact that a cooperative society would ensure greater personal freedoms for all. There is much to be gained by voluntarily chaining one's natural freedoms, in order to gain the advantages of being in society.
Rousseau's writings continue to be relevant today, as social contract theorists see morality as a set of rules. For these theorists, these rules govern how people should treat one another. These rules place restrictions on individual behavior, and all rational people accept these rules because it is to everyone's benefit to ensure order. Corollary to this, the rational people who abide by these rules have a right to expect others to do so as well. In the United States, for example, Americans are required to give up a significant portion of their incomes to...
In return, however, they get services such as public schools, Medicare, interstate highway systems and sanitation services.
Social contract theory lays down the laws that supposedly hold society together, but their foundation is a strong sense of self-interest.
Breaking rules would undermine one's well-being. To consider whether an action is ethical or not, a social contract theorist would therefore ask if an action will not harm the other person, and if an action furthers people's abilities to rely on one another. After all, trust in other members of society is a central component of social contract theory.
In conclusion, Rousseau's formulation of the social contract is a nuanced understanding of how society holds together, despite human tendencies towards self-interest.
It is precisely because of this self-interest, according to Rousseau, that lies at the heart of complex social organizations.
Works Cited
Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. New York: Penguin Books, 1982
Rousseau, Jean Jacques. The Social Contract. New York: Penguin Books, 1982
Rousseau, Jean Jacques. The Social Contract. New York: Penguin Books, 1982, p. 49
Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. New York: Penguin Books, 1982, p. 81
Rousseau, 52-53.
Rousseau, 65.
