Hobbes social contract

Hobbes social contract Name: Professor: Institution: Date: A social contract is an agreement between different individuals, parties, government or communities where mutual benefits occur for the good of the contacting parties. Social contract exposes the relationship and conflict between natural and legal rights. Individuals consent either expressly or impliedly to obey and surrender some of their freedoms to the authority in return for protection of their rights. Thomas Hobbes who happens to have lived during the period of the English Civil War was the first modern philosopher to devise a theory on the social contract. He came up with various propositions. The main basis of the social contract is that societal obligations, be they moral, political or both, depend on the covenant that bind those who agree to form the society (Roland, 2004). Based on the covenant or covenants, people agree to forego their interests for the benefit of the general society, safe for all to live. Institutions are mainly used to enforce restrictions in order to achieve a stable society. Individuals on the their part must accept such restrictions and abide to the accepted mode of conduct. Hobbes gave an overview on the justification for political obligation: He purported that men are rational beings who are born with strong desire for life and pleasure. Men will always choose to surrender to the authority of a sovereign head if this will enable them to live in a civil society, conducive and in favor of their own interests. Hobbes makes the above argument by taking a purely hypothetical imagination of men in their natural state whereby there is no power to compel them to cooperate (Rousseau, 1763). Men are in one way, or the other equal to each other and even the strongest and most superior have fear over the rest. Given that there are limited resources, the society would be unbearable for men in their natural state. Ethical egotism is a state whereby each and every one behaves and acts according to his/her own personal interests. This means being selfish and being less mindful about the welfare of others. There even exist several arguments in favor of ethical egoism which try to explain that if everyone acted and practiced the societal norms based on his or her own interests, it would be beneficial to the overall society than in situations of social contracts. In reality, no one would be complete without the rest as human beings are interdependent. One needs the other either directly or indirectly; this makes the idea of ethical egotism less applicable in practice. Egotistic people always talk about themselves and to some extent may even turn to be arrogant in the urge to protect their position and interests. There exists a strong relationship between ethical egoism and Hobbes vie...