Contractarianism

The foundational thinkers include Thomas Hobbes, who articulated the social contract in his 1651 work Leviathan, along with John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Modern contractarianism is most associated with John Rawls, whose 1971 book A Theory of Justice reinvigorated the tradition.

Rawls proposed that a just society should be designed from behind a "veil of ignorance," where you do not know your future race, gender, class, or abilities. Rawls argued this would lead rational people to choose principles that maximize fairness for the least advantaged members of society.

Contractarianism derives moral rules from a hypothetical mutual agreement among rational individuals, focusing on fairness and consent. Utilitarianism, by contrast, judges actions by whether they maximize aggregate happiness, which can permit sacrificing individuals if doing so increases overall welfare.

Hobbes argued that life without a social contract would be a violent "war of all against all," requiring a powerful sovereign to maintain order. Locke's version, articulated in his Second Treatise of Government, held that individuals retain natural rights to life, liberty, and property that the government is obligated to protect.