Social Contract Theory Essay

Social contract theory is the belief that natural existence without a binding agreement among those who live together can create danger for all concerned.   Many philosophers had a difference of opinion concerning the laws of nature. This paper will summarize the major differences of social contract theory and present John Locke’s principles associated with social contract theory. The paper will also illuminate the principles impressed in the minds of the United States Citizens through the United States Bill of Rights.
Natural law includes ethics and morals defined as “sanctions that regulate the behavior of individuals and groups on the basis of universal traits and common experiences” (Souryal, 2007,   p. 86). Natural law is the law of reasoning or the law that triumphs over good and evil; nevertheless, Natural law legitimizes the natural rights of human beings.   Rights are entitlements people possess by virtue of being human beings, for example life, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness, allowing man to have dignity so that the treatment of people are equal and fair, independent of any social class, economic status, or political allegiance (Souryal,   2007,   p. 86).
“The social contract theory provided relief from social and religious injustice by proposing that all human beings are individuals who possess an independent identity that predated society.   Second, human kind is composed of people who are all relatively equal and entitled to happiness in their own right; three, individuals, rather than being society’s creatures, create society; and society is to be maintained as a congregation of free and equal individuals who relate to each other by virtue of mutual interest and on the basis of what they have acquired through the exercise of humanity” (Souryal, 2007, p. 78).
Thomas Hobbes one of the greatest English philosopher argued that living under natural law man has selfish ways, which perpetuates big egos and wars.   If a society forms a social contract in...