Professional Ethics PHIL 3340
Social Contract Theory
Social Contract Theory The passions that incline men to peace, are fear of death; desire of such things as are necessary to commodious living; and a hope by their industry to obtain them. And reason suggests convenient articles of peace, upon which men may be drawn to agreements. These articles ….are called laws of natures. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), from Leviathan (1651)
Social Contract Theory
• Hobbes held that morality is not founded religion or culture. • He is a kind of egoist -- how far is a matter of dispute. • His basic position is that ethics as a kind of by-product of the fact that society needs rules to survive and people need to follow those rules if they are to flourish.
Social Contract Theory • To get into the spirit of this theory, imagine what would happen tomorrow if the government, police, courts, etc. all disappeared… • Hobbes called such anarchy the state of nature. • He famously said life for a human being in a state of nature would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” (p.83)
Social Contract Theory • For Hobbes, what produces such grim prospects in the state of nature are four facts about human life and nature. 1. We all have equality of need. 2. There is scarcity of resources. 3. Humans are basically equal in power. 4. Humans have only limited altruism.
Social Contract Theory • Given these facts about human life and nature, Hobbes held that we must find a way to cooperate, else we will suffer or die. • To escape the state of nature we form social contracts. • Thus morality is basically founded on such contracts or rules. Morality consists in the set of rules, governing behavior, that rational people will accept, on the condition that others accept them as well. (p.85)
Prisoner’s Dilemma Confess
Don't Confess
Confess
5, 5
0, 10
Don’t Confess
10, 0
1, 1
Prisoner’s Dilemma Scenario: A Nuclear Arms Race Don’t Build Bombs Don’t Build Bombs
Build Bombs
Build Bombs
1, 1
1, 6
6, 1
6, 6
Prisoner’s Dilemma Scenario: Environmental Resources
Don't Fish Fish
Don’t Fish
Fish
6, 6
1, 10
10, 1
1, 1
• Let numbers stand for millions of dollars.
Prisoner’s Dilemma Scenario: A Culture of Cool Consumerism Bug
SUV
Bug
3, 3
3, 7
SUV
7, 3
7, 7
• Let numbers stand for “units of coolness” as well as increasing gas prices and tons of CO2 emitted into the air and water.
Prisoner’s Dilemma Scenario: A Culture of Cool Consumerism SUV
Hummer
SUV
7, 7
7, 10
Hummer
10, 7
10, 10
• Let numbers stand for “units of coolness” as well as increasing gas price and tons of CO2 emitted into the air and water.
Prisoner’s Dilemma and Big Bend
Big Bend on a good day and on a bad day. For info go to: http://www.txpeer.org/toxictour/big_bend.html
Lessons from The Prisoner’s Dilemma 1. People’s interests are affected not only by what they do but by what other people do as well. 2. Everyone will end up worse off if they pursue (like a shortsighted egoist) their own individual interests than if they pursue mutually beneficial interests. 3. Social contracts, if they are to work, must be enforceable. 4. An individual who does not hold up the social contract is a free rider and will be met with condemnation.
Some Advantages of Social Contract Theory 1. It suggests what moral rules we should follow and how those rules are justified. • Rules are justified if they promote living harmoniously together for mutual benefit. Question: How do you think a Social Contractarian would view laws opposed to same-sex marriage? Marijuana legalization? 2. It tells us why we should follow the rules: mutual benefit and fear of punishment.
Some Advantages of Social Contract Theory 1. It suggests what moral rules we should follow and how those rules are justified. • Rules are justified if they promote living harmoniously together for mutual benefit. Question: How do you think a Social Contractarian would view laws opposed to same-sex marriage? Marijuana legalization? 2. It tells us why we should follow the rules: mutual benefit and fear of punishment.
Some Advantages of Social Contract Theory 3. It indicates when it is rational to break the rules: namely, we agree to obey the rules on the condition that others obey them as well. • Consider Martin Luther King’s reasons for non-violently breaking the laws. (pp.91-94) 4. It preserves the distinction between dutiful acts and supererogatory acts. • As we will see, not all moral theories do this (e.g. utilitarianism).
Some Advantages of Social Contract Theory 1. Does Social Contract Theory really account for our ordinary sense of morality? It seems to simply define “goodness” in egoistic terms -- getting what we want -- and then asks us to be strategic about how we achieve our goals. 2. What about vulnerable humans and non-human animals? How are they accounted for under social contract theory? After all, they can’t make contracts or retaliate against us.
