Social contract
From CasGroup
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A '''social contract''' is an implicit agreement among people, persons or | A '''social contract''' is an implicit agreement among people, persons or | ||
agents that results in the organization of [[Complex Society|complex society]], | agents that results in the organization of [[Complex Society|complex society]], | ||
| - | the individual surrenders liberty in return for protection | + | the individual surrenders liberty in return for protection, common resources |
| + | and public goods. | ||
The notion of the social contract is that individuals unite into a society by | The notion of the social contract is that individuals unite into a society by | ||
a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by certain rules and to accept | a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by certain rules and to accept | ||
duties to protect one another from violence and fraud. | duties to protect one another from violence and fraud. | ||
| + | Historically, "social contract" is a term used by Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, | ||
| + | and Jean Jacques Rousseau to describe the appropriate relationship between | ||
| + | individuals and their governments. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In a civilization or [[Complex Society|complex society]], citizens gain civil | ||
| + | rights in return for accepting the obligation to respect the common rules | ||
| + | and laws. | ||
| + | If too many members of a society break the social contract, i.e. if too | ||
| + | many want to benefit from the public goods but nobody wants to contribute, | ||
| + | it can lead to the "tragedy of the commons". | ||
== Links == | == Links == | ||
| - | * Wikipedia entries for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society society] | + | * Wikipedia entries for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society society], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract social contract], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons tragedy of the commons], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good public good] |
| - | [[Category:Complex Systems]] [[Category:Social Systems]] | + | [[Category:Complex Systems]] [[Category:Social Systems]] [[Category:Philosophy]] |
