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Comments on the theory of the social contract?

Comments on the theory of the social contract?

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January 31, 2024

Question: Comments on the theory of the social contract?

Answer: That’s a deep and complicated question. I would say, I like social contract theory as part of political theory because it does capture an important aspect of morality-based politics, which is the informed consent of the governed. And certainly, in historical times when we get back to the beginnings of the modern world, the idea of the consent of the governed was just not part of traditional political theory.

Instead, you were a subject. You were expected to obey higher authority. So, I think the emphasis on that historically has been a useful corrective. At the same time, consent is only part of the story because we know people can consent to all kinds of crazy things in subjectivist fashion; and a full theory has to have not only consent, but consenting to things that are in fact, objectively good.

If we all consented to sell ourselves into slavery, those would not be valid contracts. If we all consented to engage in a battle royale where we’re just going to try to kill each other off, that would not be a valid contract. So, it has to be objectively good principles that we understand and consent to. That’s what the full theory has to consist of.

Stephen Hicks Ph.D.
About the author:
Stephen Hicks Ph.D.

Stephen R. C. Hicks is a Senior Scholar for The Atlas Society and Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University. He is also the Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship at Rockford University.

Il est l'auteur de L'art du raisonnement : Readings for Logical Analysis (W. W. Norton & Co., 1998), Expliquer le postmodernisme : Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (Scholargy, 2004), Nietzsche et les nazis (Le rasoir d'Ockham, 2010), La vie entrepreneuriale (CEEF, 2016), Le libéralisme pour et contre (Connor Court, 2020), L'art : Moderne, postmoderne et au-delà (avec Michael Newberry, 2021) et Eight Philosophies of Education (2022). Il a publié des articles dans Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics et Le Wall Street Journal. Ses écrits ont été traduits en 20 langues.

Il a été professeur invité en éthique des affaires à l'université de Georgetown à Washington, D.C., chercheur invité au Social Philosophy & Policy Center à Bowling Green, Ohio, professeur invité à l'université de Kasimir le Grand, en Pologne, chercheur invité au Harris Manchester College de l'université d'Oxford, en Angleterre, et professeur invité à l'université Jagiellonian, en Pologne.

Il est titulaire d'une licence et d'une maîtrise de l'université de Guelph, au Canada. Il est titulaire d'un doctorat en philosophie de l'université d'Indiana, Bloomington, États-Unis.

En 2010, il a reçu le prix d'excellence en enseignement de son université.

Sa série de podcasts Open College est publiée par Possibly Correct Productions, à Toronto. Ses conférences et entretiens vidéo sont en ligne sur CEE Video Channel, et son site web est StephenHicks.org.  


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