Contract Theory: Utilitarianism, Kantianism And Virtue Ethics

The Social Contract Theory along with Utilitarianism, Kantianism and Virtue Ethics are the major options discussed currently in moral theory. The Social Contract theory seems to explain a great deal about moral life, Rachels however makes two objections against it. The first objection is that the theory is based on a historical fiction. We are asked to imagine that people once lived in isolation from one and other and found this intolerable thus they decided to band together and follow social rules and mutual benefit, but none of this happened, it is just a fiction. The second objection is that some individuals cannot benefit us thus according to the Social Contract Theory these individuals have no claim over us and we may ignore their interests …show more content…
The equality of need, each human needs the same basic things to survive, food clothing shelter and so on. There is scarcity, the world is hard, inhospitable place, where the things we need do not come in abundance, and we have to work hard and produce them and even then may be in short supply. Third there is essential equality of human power, who will get the scare goods? No one can simply take what one wants, even though some people are smarter and tougher than others, even the strongest can be brought down when those who are not strong act together. Fourth, there is limited altruism. If we cannot prevail by our own strength, can we rely on the goodwill of others? Even if people are not wholly selfish, they care mostly about themselves and we cannot assume they will step aside when their interests conflict with ours. Rachels first objection is that the Social Contract theory is based on a historical fiction, we are asked to imagine that people once lived in isolation from one and other and they found this isolation unbearable thus they eventually banded together, agreeing to follow social rules of mutual benefit, but none of this happened it is just a fantasy. None of us signed a real contract. The second objection pointed out by Rachels is that some individuals cannot benefit us thus according to the Social Contract Theory these individuals have no claim over us and we may ignore their interests when we are writing up the rules of society, these vulnerable groups would include human infants, nonhuman animals, future generations and oppressed populations. Rachels second objection in devastating to the possibility of applying this theory in its completion in practice because the implications are unacceptable however I don’t think these objections completely discredit the theory as a whole but rather show important limitations of the theory. The theory can still be