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The Pros And Cons Of The Social Contract Theory

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First of all, the social contract theory, is the view that persons ' moral and political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live. This means that in order to live in a good society people must follow established rules and not act on their own natural state.This social contract theory is associated with modern moral and political theory and is given its by Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are the best known proponents of this enormously influential theory. A little bit of background of Thomas Hobbes, he born in 1588 and died in 1679,he also lived during the most crucial period of early modern England 's history. To have a better understanding on the …show more content…

After these contracts are established, however, then society becomes possible, and people can be expected to keep their promises, cooperate with one another, and so on. I believe that thanks to the social contract we created justice and established what is moral and immoral for the whole society and not only on what we think could be moral or immoral. This topic may be controversial for some people because they will probably think that even though the social contract was created to be equal for all people there are some things until today that does not apply for all. But for me that is not a strong reason to do not believe in the Social contract I strongly believe in this theory because this is what makes a civil society with justice and morality. A philosopher Stuart Rachels suggests that, “ morality is the set of rules governing behavior that rational people accept, on the condition that others accept them too”. For me this have a meaning that if we follow those guidelines we are being morally good, we can live morally by our own choice and if not probably we will have consequences and not just because a divine superior requires us live in morality. Even though I am a strong believer in God not all people is, therefore the social contract will apply for all

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During the 16th and 17th century, Europe went through political disputes regarding government which created uproar and conflict. English philosopher Thomas Hobbes published his document Leviathan during the War of Religion in 1651. The War of Religion was a time period in which Europe was trying to establish its religion between Catholic and Protestant (Huguenot). The Holy Roman Empire in particular had tension about religious beliefs due to the Peace of Augsburg which entailed each ruler to establish a religion for their state, also known as a confession. The Peace of Augsburg also entailed that when a new ruler came into power, they could keep or change the confession of that state and its practices.

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How Did John Locke's Influence On The Declaration Of Independence

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