Social Contract Theory
Social Contract Theory
Since as far as history can remember man has given up rights in exchange for peace, order, and stability. For centuries man has strived to find the perfect government where there are the right amount of laws and rights to live by. Throughout time we have witnessed many governments rule countries and not all of them have been great. Some rulers who have total control have proven to become corrupt and use their power to benefit themselves instead of the country they are there to serve. People want to have a voice in what goes on in the state, they want to be heard and have their problems acknowledged. Humans are rational and moral and should have a say in what goes on in the government which is why a republic is the best government because government officials are elected to make decisions in the best interest of the people and the people still have a say in what goes on.
Humans are predominately moral and rational not selfish, immoral, or stupid unless they become that way. According to English philosopher John Locke “Men live according to reason, without a common superior on earth, to judge between them, is properly the state of nature.” (D18) Locke is saying that only nature can judge humans and no other human has the right to judge another because men are all equal and no one is superior to the other. “We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those who are around us…the mind is a blank slate” (D18) Locke explains that the human mind is blank when you are first born and you become who you are by the experiences and the people around you which is why humans are not naturally egotistical monsters that people like Hobbes make them out to be, they form into those monsters. Being a 17th century English philosopher he witnessed the glorious revolution where very little blood was spilled which let him see the good of human nature and leading him to believe that humans are not evil. “The
Since as far as history can remember man has given up rights in exchange for peace, order, and stability. For centuries man has strived to find the perfect government where there are the right amount of laws and rights to live by. Throughout time we have witnessed many governments rule countries and not all of them have been great. Some rulers who have total control have proven to become corrupt and use their power to benefit themselves instead of the country they are there to serve. People want to have a voice in what goes on in the state, they want to be heard and have their problems acknowledged. Humans are rational and moral and should have a say in what goes on in the government which is why a republic is the best government because government officials are elected to make decisions in the best interest of the people and the people still have a say in what goes on.
Humans are predominately moral and rational not selfish, immoral, or stupid unless they become that way. According to English philosopher John Locke “Men live according to reason, without a common superior on earth, to judge between them, is properly the state of nature.” (D18) Locke is saying that only nature can judge humans and no other human has the right to judge another because men are all equal and no one is superior to the other. “We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those who are around us…the mind is a blank slate” (D18) Locke explains that the human mind is blank when you are first born and you become who you are by the experiences and the people around you which is why humans are not naturally egotistical monsters that people like Hobbes make them out to be, they form into those monsters. Being a 17th century English philosopher he witnessed the glorious revolution where very little blood was spilled which let him see the good of human nature and leading him to believe that humans are not evil. “The