Question

Q1. what is the social contract theory?

Q2. How does a society come out about as a result of said theory?

Q3. what do you ultimately believe is the origin of ethics? Is ethics an innate human trait that comes about while creating human societies? Or is it the result of of something else? Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

Social contract theory refers to an official contract between eh individuals and an elected government in which individuals would sacrifice some of their rights in exchange for the government to protect people and their properties against each other. This would mean that the people in their state of nature wouldn’t be able to control their instincts and impulses to dominate and gain control over each other.

People in their state of nature are selfish, brutal and violent and they would kill each other for their own survival, according to Hobbes. Although Locke provides an entirely different version of state of nature where he sees people as rational and reasonable and they have their natural rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness which the government needs to facilitate, the overall objective of the social contract is true in terms of establishing laws that would protect people in protecting themselves, their rights and properties.

Almost all the societies have their own ethical and moral standards that were formed with the help of religions and culture. This would mean that all the societies have their own code of ethics that would help people in the society live a moral life while at the same time make them realise the importance of respecting the rights of others.

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