WHAT IS CONTRACTUALISM? - HISTORY - 2026

The contractualism or "theory of the social contract" is a theoretical concept within the field of political philosophy underlying the origin of society, the legitimacy of the modern state and the legitimacy of the political exercise of rulers within its structure.

It is a current of thought that studies the nature of the exercise of political power, started in seventeenth-century Europe by the hand of its classical thinkers, the English Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and the French Jean Jacques Rousseau.

For Professor Silvino Salej Higgins, from the Faculty of Philosophy and Human Sciences of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, the social contract was a proposed solution to reduce the problem of violence in politics and domination relations, through the use of of force to the minimum possible.

Unlike the political models created by Plato and Aristotle, this theory did not seek to provide the perfect and absolute formula for peaceful government, but established minimum conditions that had to be met to avoid the self-destruction of the Republic.

The postulates within this theory contributed to the passage from medieval political thought to modern thought, since the exercise of political power over divinity or tradition is not based on them - which did not depend on the decision-making power of individuals -, but based on the reason of men.

Historic context

By the time the first contractualist theories appeared, a series of ideological and empirical changes were taking place in the European environment, which gave way to modernity.

It is within this environment that the theory of the social pact is born. Among the different changes that have occurred can be mentioned:

The crisis of feudalism

Feudalism began to be seen as a form of decentralized and diffuse political organization, which gave way to the birth of the modern state.

This happened thanks to the strengthening of the monarchies that managed to establish themselves as political units, holding power centrally over a specific territory, through institutions that constituted the state machinery.

The secularization of society

This phenomenon occurs due to the loss of influence and power of the Catholic Church. The Christian religion ceased to be the paradigm that explained and ordered all areas of life.

Christianity was supplanted by the humanism of the Enlightenment and its new theories based on rationality, emancipation and personal autonomy, the scientific revolution, among others.

Structure of the social contract theory

State of nature

The theory of the social contract begins its analysis from the fiction of the “state of nature”, a hypothetical or imaginary scenario used with theoretical intentions, to demonstrate the reasons why the existence of the State is necessary.

The state of nature is the state in which men are found in their original stage, upon reaching the world and before the creation of society. The life of man in the state of nature is characterized by:

• Each man lives on his own, without being interrelated with others through some firm or lasting mechanism.
• There is no regulatory force majeure that imposes any kind of order or authority.
• Each man has unlimited freedom of action, since there is no governmental power or authority capable of restricting them.
• The above statement brings as a consequence that man faces other men, who are on an equal footing with him by possessing the same freedom without restrictions.

This situation turns out to be unfavorable for their survival, for different reasons that vary between the different authors. Among these reasons stands out the fact that there is no force superior to that of all men - a "third party" - that guarantees the necessary conditions for such survival.

It should be noted that the contractualist vision considers man as a rational being, who pursues his individual interests and acts guided by his human nature.

Among the classical authors of contractualism there are differences regarding their vision of human nature and the behavior of men in the state of nature.

However, all agree that the state of nature existed at a time prior to life in society, and that it was characterized by the particularities described above.

It is from there that inevitably arises the need for a social pact through which a regulating body of social relations is instituted.

Social contract and life in society

As explained above, the state of nature is an unfavorable environment for men, because their survival is not guaranteed given the absence of order and a system of justice.

Contractual authors establish that, faced with this situation and making use of their rational faculties, men form a society through a pact or social contract between themselves, to face instability and the threat of the state of nature.

In this social pact, rational men establish all the rules that will govern the life of society and that will make up its structure. In this structure, political power is a central axis of social relations.

The terms of this contract vary between the different authors but, in general, they all agree that it is through the social contract that men institute the State, a structure or machinery that will have the objective of guaranteeing order and peace in society.

Thus it is founded that obedience is owed to the State and the rulers. The comparison between the state of nature and the civil state is made to show why and under what conditions the government and the state are useful.

As a result of this utility, both government and state must be willingly accepted and obeyed by reasonable people.

By relying on the consensus of citizens and being rationally established, this State would be the only one that could legitimately exercise force to guarantee order and the survival of society.

Main representatives of contractualism

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher, born on April 5, 1588. For him, the nature of man was selfish. He thought that he naturally has impulses of feelings such as competitiveness, mistrust, glory and an incessant desire for power.

For this reason, men would not be able to cooperate with each other if they remain in the state of nature, but, on the contrary, “the law of the strongest” would prevail, according to which the weakest would be subdued by the strongest.

In one of his most famous books, "Leviathan" -written in 1651-, he establishes that in the state of nature man's life would be "a war of all against all", since men would seek to dominate each other, guided by its nature, without any force majeure that imposes an order.

That is, if there were no fear among men of a common power capable of repressing them, they would constantly distrust each other, a generalized state of fear would reign in which none would have their survival guaranteed, and man's life would be lonely, poor, brutal, dirty and short.

For all the above, for Hobbes the only way in which man could guarantee his survival and get out of this state of war is through the formation of a State as a product of a social pact.

On the other hand, in life in society -according to Hobbes- individuals hand over their unlimited freedom to the State and the sovereign. It ensures that the established State can legitimately use all the resources and force necessary to guarantee peace, without any limit.

The State has absolute legitimate power, since its function is to safeguard the lives of its citizens and guarantee peace. In this it will differ from what was established by Locke.

Thomas Hobbes was a defender of the absolutist monarchy as a form of government.

John Locke

John Locke was another English philosopher, born a few years later than Hobbes -in 1632-, whose contractual theory differs in some points from Hobbesian theory.

For Locke, the state of nature is an environment in which reason reigns - not the law of the strongest - since he considers man naturally prone to goodness.

Therefore, it describes the state of nature as a state in which freedoms and equality reign among men, because the rights to life and property are recognized by all under natural law.

What is inconvenient in the state of nature for Locke is that there is no entity in charge of guaranteeing full respect for the freedoms of men, in the event of any discord between them or in the face of the threat of a foreign invasion. Therefore, the validity of man's natural freedoms is uncertain.

For this reason, Locke postulates that men make the social pact, rationally, to establish a State that guarantees the freedoms of all, and especially private property.

It is opposed to the Hobbesian State, to which the freedoms of men are given and which enjoys absolute power.

Locke was a staunch detractor of the absolutist state, since for him the freedom of men is one of the central dimensions that the social pact must protect.

He defended the notion of a state with limited power, and that is why his political doctrine was fundamental to liberalism. Threatened natural freedom becomes civil status and freedoms guaranteed by the State.

In addition, Locke defended the right of the people to rebellion since, in the event that the State misuses its power or tries to enslave the people, it is the people who can judge it by making use of this power.

It is better for the good of the people that they have the power to resist a tyrant than that said tyrant enjoys the freedom to enslave them without restrictions.

Importance of contractualism

What differentiated contractarian theory from other doctrines of the time was that it was an attempt to justify political authority on the basis of rational consensus and individual interests.

In addition, these authors aimed to demonstrate the value and purpose of organized government, contrasting the advantages of civil society with the disadvantages of the state of nature.

The theory of the social contract provides a rational justification for the notion of the State, in which the authority of the State is derived from the consent of the governed, expressed through a contract between men.

The idea that it is men who give themselves a government based on reason was key to the political development of modernity, and it remains in force today.

References

1. De la Mora, R. (nd). Brief history of political thought: from Plato to Rawls. Accessed September 12, 2017 on the World Wide Web: books.google.com
2. Encyclopedia Britannica. Social contract. Retrieved September 12, 2017 on the World Wide Web: britannica.com
3. Ramírez, J. (2010). Thomas Hobbes and the absolute state: from the state of reason to the state of terror. Accessed September 12, 2017 on the World Wide Web: books.google.com
4. Salej, S. (2002). Comparative reading on the classics of political contractualism, El Catoblepas, N ° 9, p.5. Accessed September 12, 2017 on the World Wide Web: nodulo.org
5. Wikipedia. Wikipedia The free Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 12, 2017 on the World Wide Web: Wikipedia.org