SOCIAL CONTRACT

WEEK 10 AND 11
 BEFORE SOCIETY

• MAN’S NATURE IS SURVIVAL

• THE INDIVIDUAL DICTATES WHAT TO OR
NOT TO DO
• SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
 WHEN SOCIETY CAME IN

• WHEN PEOPLE CAME INTO CONTACT WITH OTHER

PEOPLE WE ENTERED A SOCIETY
• WHEN WE CREATED STATE AND GOVERNMENT WE
ENTERED A SOCIAL CONTRACT
 KEY CONCEPTS

• STATE OF THE NATURE: A PRE-SOCIAL CONDITION

• THE SOCIAL CONTRACT: AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN
(a) MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY OR
(b) MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE SOVERIGN
• THE SOVEREIGN: THE LEGITIMATE HEAD OF THE STATE AFTER
SOCIAL CONTRACT
THOMAS HOBBES
 THOMAS HOBBES

• THOMAS HOBBES (1588 – 1679): ARGUES IN

FAVOR OF ABSOLUTE MONARCHY
• HE DEFENDED THE POWER OF THE
MONARCH USING THE SOCIAL CONTRACT
THEORY
 THOMAS HOBBES

• NATURE OF MAN : MAN IS NATURALLY EVIL BECAUSE OF SELF-

INTEREST
• SOCIAL CONTRACT: MAN ENTERED TO A SOCIETY IN ORDER TO BE
PROTECTED. THEY ALL NEED TO FOLLOW A RULE.
• FORM OF A GOVERNMENT: MONARCHY
• WHAT IF THE RULER VIOLATED THE CONTRACT? NO RIGHT TO REBEL
“THE KING DO NO WRONG”
• SOVEREIGN: THE ABSOLUTE MONARCH KING OR QUEEN
JOHN LOCKE
 JOHN LOCKE

• JOHN LOCKE (B. 1632, D. 1704) WAS A BRITISH PHILOSOPHER,

OXFORD ACADEMIC AND MEDICAL RESEARCHER. LOCKE’S
MONUMENTAL AN ESSAY CONCERNING HUMAN
UNDERSTANDING (1689) IS ONE OF THE FIRST GREAT DEFENSES
OF MODERN EMPIRICISM AND CONCERNS ITSELF WITH
DETERMINING THE LIMITS OF HUMAN UNDERSTANDING IN
RESPECT TO A WIDE SPECTRUM OF TOPICS.
 JOHN LOCKE

• NATURE OF MAN : MAN IS NATURALLY FREE (SOCIAL ANIMAL) FREE TO

PURSUE LIFE LIBERTY HEALTH AND PROPERTY AS NATURAL RIGHT
• SOCIAL CONTRACT: EQUAL RIGHTS AND EQUAL CAPABLE OF
DISCOVERING AND BEING BOUND BY THE LAW OF NATURE.
• FORM OF A GOVERNMENT: DEMOCRATIC
• WHAT IF THE RULER VIOLATED THE CONTRACT? REVOLUTION
• SOVEREIGN: THE PEOPLE (ALL ADULT MALES) ELECTING THE
GOVERNMENT IN DEMOCRATIC ELECTION
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU
 JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

• (BORN JUNE 28, 1712, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND—DIED JULY 2, 1778,

ERMENONVILLE, FRANCE), 
• JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU REMAINS AN IMPORTANT FIGURE IN
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY, BOTH BECAUSE OF HIS
CONTRIBUTIONS TO POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY AND MORAL
PSYCHOLOGY AND BECAUSE OF HIS INFLUENCE ON LATER
THINKERS.
 JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

• NATURE OF MAN : MAN IS NATURALLY GOOD AND EQUAL BUT IN TERMS OF

PROPERTY HE IS IN THE FALL OF GRACE
• SOCIAL CONTRACT: GENERAL WILL (COLLECTIVE UNITY)
• FORM OF A GOVERNMENT: DIRECT DEMOCRACY (EVERYONE HAS THE
AUTHORITY)
• WHAT IF THE RULER VIOLATED THE CONTRACT? N/A (EVERYONE IS THE RULER)
• SOVEREIGN: THE INDIVIDUAL
 CONCLUSION

WE’VE EXAMINED SOCIAL CONTRACT

THEORY’S EXPLANATION OF MORAL
MOTIVATION AS EXPRESSED IN TWO
QUESTIONS: “WHY DOES SOCIETY NEED MORAL
RULES?” AND “WHY SHOULD I BE MORAL?”
THANK YOU AND GOD
BLESS!