The Social Contract as an Ethical Theory

Abstract

The theory of the social contract was originally a political theory intended to explain certain aspects of the relation between state and citizen, including their respective duties and obligations to one another. It claimed that the state was justified because all citizens could and would voluntarily agree to form one , voluntarily since to do so was in keeping with their own self interest. This model has been recently utilized in ethical theory, particularly by David Gauthier, and tries to show that moral systems, too, would be formed by people for reasons of self interest.

In this thesis I argue that contractarianism, both as specifically developed by Gauthier and in its more general descriptions, fails to adequately account for certain fundamental and reasoned moral opinions. The theory has an overly restricted criterion as to what counts as a moral issue, and it is overly restrictive in its selection of those who warrant moral consideration, leaving out, for example, animals, not to mention infants and severe mental and physical deficients.