A General Study On Evolution Of Modern West Social Contract Theory

The general view of Social Contract Theory began to come into being early at the time of Plato, about 4th century B.C. And we can still find it in the book entitled"A Theory of Justice"which is written by Rawls even in the 20th century nowadays. However, the period that Social Contract Theory enjoys its stable status begins with the publication of Hobbs'"Leviathan", and ends up with the appearance of Rousseau's"The Social Contract". This thesis attempts to analyze the reason of Social Contract Theory's upsurge, its evolution and the logical process of its decline .The revival of Social Contract Theory promoted by Rawls is another concentration of this thesis.Society characterized by turbulence, separated political reality and people's expectation for the unity of the country force Hobbs to take the following problem into consideration .How do individuals constitute a society and a country? Borrowing the concept of"natural status"raised by former theorists, Hobbs let the people in freedom and equality give some of their rights to someone and the group formed by some people by making use of mechanic materialism. People should follow the command of the leader in order to protect themselves ,as protecting oneself is the great good .Locke holds the view that people in natural status are born with the right of freedom, survival and property. The purpose of their constituting the society and establishing the government lies in protecting their property .The power of the government is given by people. If the government cannot take efficient measures to protect people's property, every individual in the society will have the ultimate power to disband the government and resign another contract to establish a new one .Rousseau is unsatisfied with the general will that embodies sovereignty raised by Hobbs, as this will is substantive rather than general .Neither does he satisfy with Locke's idea of sovereign will, as it is quite general rather than substantive. Therefore, the general will advanced by Rousseau is formed by these people who enjoy equality and freedom in natural status. They make contracts to give all rights to those who deserve to be given. In theory ,this sort of general will reveals both general and substantive characteristics .However, if we put certain concrete general will into a practical government operation mechanism, paradox appears unavoidably: the general will which cannot be deprived will possibly be transmitted into every individual's personal consciousness. This transmission can bring about more serious results than that of Leviathan's will. Rousseau has to ask for help form Plato's so called"philosopher king"or"ruler king"of ancient Rome, as he himself cannot accept this bad results.