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To avoid this miserable condition, which Hobbes calls the “state of nature,” rational
people understand that cooperation is essential. However, cooperation is possible only
when people mutually agree to follow certain guidelines. Hence moral rules are “simply
the rules that are necessary if we are to gain the benefits of social living” [5, p. 141].
Hobbes argues that everybody living in a civilized society has implicitly agreed to two
things: (1) the establishment of such a set of moral rules to govern relations among
citizens, and (2) a government capable of enforcing these rules. He calls this arrangement
the
social contract
.
The Franco-Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) continued the
evolution of social contract theory. In his book
The Social Contract,
he writes, “Since no
man has any natural authority over his fellows, and since force alone bestows no right,
all legitimate authority among men must be based on covenants” [25, p. 53]. Rousseau
states that the critical problem facing society is finding a form of association that guar-
antees everybody their safety and property, yet enables each person to remain free. The
answer, according to Rousseau, is for everybody to give themselves and their rights to the
whole community. The community will determine the rules for its members, and each
of its members will be obliged to obey the rules. What prevents the community from en-
acting bad rules is that no one is above the rules. Since everyone is in the same situation,
no community members will want to put unfair burdens on others because that would
mean putting unfair burdens on themselves.
While everyone might agree to this in theory, it's easy for a single person to ratio-
nalize selfish behavior. How do we prevent individuals from shirking their duties to the
group? Suppose Bill owes the government $10,000 in taxes, but he discovers a way to
cheat on his taxes so that he only has to pay $8,000. Bill thinks to himself, “The gov-
ernment gets billions of dollars a year in taxes. So to the government another $2,000 is
just a drop in the bucket. But to me, $2,000 is a lot of money.” What restrains Bill from
acting selfishly is the knowledge that if he is caught, he will be punished. In order for the
social contract to function, society must provide not only a system of laws but a system
of enforcing the laws as well.
According to Rousseau, living in a civil society gives a person's actions a moral
quality they would not have if that person lived in a state of nature. “It is only then,
when the voice of duty has taken the place of physical impulse, and right that of desire,
that man, who has hitherto thought only of himself, finds himself compelled to act
on other principles, and to consult his reason rather than study his inclinations.” [25,
p. 64]
James Rachels summarizes these ideas in an elegant definition of social contract
theory.
SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY
“Morality consists in the set of rules, governing how people are to treat one
another, that rational people will agree to accept, for their mutual benefit,
on the condition that others follow those rules as well.” [5, p. 145]
