Social Contract Theorist

Social Contract Theorist

A person who believes that morality is a manifestation of the mutual consent of all persons involved in a society. For example, murder is wrong according to social contract theory because society has generally agreed that it would not be conducive to prosperous relations, and not because it is wrong in and of itself. Social contract theory is used in government as one of the foundations of the modern state. "Government by consent of the governed," one of the most fundamental ideas of democracy, has its origins in social contract theory.