The Best Fit Social Contract Essay examples

The Best Fit Social Contract The modern theory of the social contract comes from the theories of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Montesquieu, and John-Jacques Rousseau. They each had their own ideas as to what a social contract is and why it should be implemented into society. Hobbes believed that the social contract was an implied agreement among the people to give up their natural rights and bestow absolute control to a sovereign. Locke thought the social contract was an agreement between the people and a sovereign. He said that the people’s natural rights could never be taken away. Montesquieu held that the government should keep order, liberty, and property of the people. He also believed that the government should not have absolute power but have divided powers in order to keep each section in check. Rousseau thought that the people should give up their rights to the community as a whole, not a king. He favored a direct democracy. Each of these philosophers had such varying ideas as to how a society should run, however, I believe that Montesquieu’s is the best example to follow for a modern society in comparison to Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau’s ideas. Hobbes believed that before the social contract man lived in a state of nature. According to him, this placed people in a state of fear and selfishness. He considered it a state of war. A social contract would then be placed so that man does not have to live in such poor and brutish conditions. He said that man had a natural…