# Contemporary Approaches to the Social Contract

> 【EN】The idea of the social contract goes back at least to Protagoras and Epicurus. In its recognizably modern form, however, the idea is revived by Thomas Hobbes and was later developed, in different ways, by John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant. After Kant, the idea fell out of favor with political philosophers until it was resurrected by John Rawls. It is now at the heart of the work of a number of moral and political philosophers. The basic idea seems simple: in some way, the agreement of all individuals subject to collectively enforced social arrangements shows that those arrangements have some normative property (they are legitimate, just, obligating, etc.). Even this basic idea, though, is anything but simple, and even this abstract rendering is objectionable in many ways. … 【中】社会契约观念至少可追溯到普罗泰戈拉与伊壁鸠鲁；其现代形态由霍布斯复兴，后经洛克、卢梭与康德发展，康德之后一度失宠，直到罗尔斯使其复兴，如今是许多道德与政治哲学家工作的核心。基本想法看似简单：所有受集体强制安排约束者的同意，显示这些安排具有正当性、正义性或约束力。词条讨论社会契约作为一种模型，如何刻画缔约各方与同意。

- ID: m13179
- Category: culture
- Domain: 政治学

## Definition

当代社会契约论的核心主张是：受集体强制的社会安排所约束的所有人的同意，以某种方式表明这些安排具有某种规范属性——它们是正当的、正义的或具有约束力的。 脚手架作用：- 正当性检验：用受约束者是否可能同意反问制度的正当性。 - 假设建模：构造假想同意情境，比较各方得失与退路。 - 义务定位：区分实际同意与假想同意，澄清服从义务的来源。

## How it works

契约论的说服机制是把规范性的来源安置在假想的同意之上：如果任何理性的人在公平条件下都会接受某项安排，该安排就获得了正当化。其解释力取决于两个建模选择——如何刻画缔约者的动机与信息，以及把同意理解为实际同意、讨价还价的均衡还是偏好的加总。

## Practice

1) 问这里的契约是实际同意还是假想的模型装置。2) 检查各方的刻画：理性自利还是有正义感，同质还是异质。3) 明确同意的机制是同意、讨价还价还是加总。4) 检验结论对建模假设的敏感程度。

## Use

- 正当性检验：用受约束者是否可能同意反问制度的正当性。 - 假设建模：构造假想同意情境，比较各方得失与退路。 - 义务定位：区分实际同意与假想同意，澄清服从义务的来源。

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