New Social Contract Theory
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Description
"Social contract theory has a long history in moral and political philosophy. Intellectually, its roots extend back to ancient philosophy. Most prominently, in Plato's (1993) Republic, Glaucon challenges Socrates to refute what Glaucon considers to be the common view of morality, which conceives morality to be contractarian. The view was later developed into a coherent moral and political theory in the work of Epicurus and his follower Lucretius, although this view became increasingly unpopular with the rise of scholasticism in the Middle Ages. After the Middles Ages and the advent of European Enlightenment in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, social contract theory re-emerged and became influential socially and politically. The Enlightenment initiated a shift away from the domination of the Church and aristocracy. It questioned any transcendental authority that, during the Middle Ages, had determined not only scientific knowledge but also the moral and political order of society. By empowering ordinary citizens to use their reason as a source of knowledge (sapere aude), the Enlightenment also promoted individual liberty and autonomy."
ISBN
9780198878650
Publication Date
9-24-2024
Publisher
Oxford University Press
City
Oxford, UK
Disciplines
History of Philosophy
Recommended Citation
Moehler, Michael and Thrasher, John, "New Social Contract Theory" (2024). Philosophy Faculty Books and Book Chapters. 31.
https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/philosophy_books/31
Copyright
Oxford University Press
Comments
In Michael Moehler and John Thrasher(Eds.), New Approaches to Social Contract Theory: Liberty, Equality, Diversity, and the Open Society.
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