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The social contract theory of morality claims that no eternal principles are required in order for morality to be real and binding. Explain the view of human life on which this social contract theory rests.

Discussion should be approximately 250 words in length.

Shafer-Landau, R. (2020). A concise introduction to ethics. Oxford University Press.

Social contract theory is a political philosophy of the the view that person's moral and political obligations are dependent upon an agreement or contract among them to form the society in which they live. It originated during the age of enlightenment and concerns the legitimacy of the state over the individual. The relation between natural and legal rights is often a topic of the theory.

It says that people together live in society in accordance with an agreement. Philosopher Stuart Rachel's is of the view that morality is the set of rules governing behavior that rational people accept, on the condition that others accept them too. They provide a valuable framework for Harmony in society.

It is one of the theories of the origin of the state. It has been emerged since the time of the sophists of the Greece and got recognition in the hands of the great trio, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and Jean Jacques Rousseau. The idea is revived by Hobbes and developed in different ways by John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant.

The main purpose of the theory is to show that members of some society have reason to endorse and comply with the fundamental social rules, laws, institutions or principles of the society. It explains both the purpose of morality and government. The purpose of morality is to make social living possible, the purpose of government is to enforce vital moral rules. An act is morally right only if it is permitted by social contract for the society of its agents at the time it is performed.

Problems with the social contract theory include the following:

It gives government too much power to make laws under the guise of protecting the public. If we do accept the contract and wish to abide by it, we may not fully understand what our part of the contract is or ought to be. Contracts can be unfair for some.