Contract Theory

Contract theory emerged during the Enlightenment. It proposed a new model of political organisation: human beings as society evolved from a “state of nature”. Although the philosophy of contract theory goes back to Socrates and Plato, when we talk of modern (social) contracts, we are generally referring to the theories of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Thomas Hobbes, The Leviathan (1651)

In explaining his view on the contract theory Hobbes argued that without a government that is capable of functioning as a referee over all human beings, the members of society are condemned to exist in a state of chaos and civil war because people would seek only what is in their individual self interests. Creating a government or sovereign appears to be the only way for humanity to escape this state of nature, one where human existence is characterized by lawlessness and insecurity.

John Locke, Two Treatises on Government (1689)

Like Hobbes, Locke believed that human beings are social beings who will willingly give up their state of nature to form a social and politically controlled state. However unlike his predecessor he thought individuals in their state of nature, would have a level of discipline and a degree of moral limits to their action towards each other. According to Locke the state will serve the function of a “neutral judge” that would protect the lives, liberty, and property of the individual. Unlike Hobbes who favoured an absolute authority of the ruler, Locke stood for the natural rights of all citizens.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Du contrat Social (1762)

He stood for a direct rule by the people, that is, citizens must be able to choose together the fundamental rules by which they would live. Furthermore, they should be able to revise these rules on later occasions if they so choose. For Rousseau “popular sovereignty” was so important that even the monarch had to bow to it.

Summary

In a state of nature, human beings live in a dangerous state of lawlessness
These people could be accorded certain rights in return for giving up some elements of their freedom (be willing to accept certain restrictions upon their freedom for the benefit of society), e.g. laws and regulations which society requires its members to abide by.
Society (in the sense of a “state”) emerges to enforce the rights and responsibilities borne by its members.
Because these rights and responsibilities are neither “natural” nor “fixed,” they can be altered should a society’s members so desire (this was claimed by Locke and Rousseau, but not by Hobbes).
Contract theorists assert that in order for a society to function, there must be an agreement among its members regarding the rights and responsibilities of both the state —which is concerned with advancing the common good— as well as its citizens —who are concerned with advancing their self-interests.
Social contract theory specifies the benefits of rule by the consent of the governed as opposed to living in a state of nature characterized by lawlessness.

Sources

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/envi-eth.htm>.
The social contract or principles of political Right