Social Contract Theory

What is the Social Contract Theory? Do I think that it can be defended? In this paper I will define what the Social Contract Theory is and how and why I think that it can be defended against its critics.

Social Contract Theory is a contract that the people of a given area agree upon to live by. In this contract the people agree upon rules or laws to live by there is usually some sort of government that will help to enforce and administer these rules and/or laws. If people break or disobey these rules or laws there is usually some sort of punishment or justice given to them. These rules or laws can be written or unwritten but the people must agree to obey by them for the good of society. The contract theory can change if the people believe that it is time for a change (in our society it would be by voting or getting out and protesting if we felt things needed to be changed).

First let me say that without some kind of Social Contract I think that the world would be in chaos people would do whatever they want because there are no rules or laws against it. A good example would be what happened after Hurricane Katrina down in Louisiana. At that time there seemed to be no rules or laws people where doing whatever they wanted to do. Why because there was no one to enforce these laws at the time. I think that humans need some sort of laws and rules to live by to make them feel safe and secure without these feelings of safety and security no one would trust anyone at anytime. If we don't feel safe and secure I do not believe that anything would get done and society would stand still. No one would want to leave there homes and go to work or school which leads to nothing getting done and society is at a stand still. The Social Contract gives us laws so we can feel safe and secure because it spells out to us what is right or wrong and what is legal or illegal. If you do not accept or break these laws or rules there will be some sort of punishment. These punishments are usually administered by the leader or the government of the society. The social contact give the people the feelings of being safe and secure because they now no that most people will honor the rules and laws.

A second reason I feel that the Social Contract Theory is a good theory is that there can be many different social contracts each society can base have a different contract. The United States can have a different set of rules and laws than