Modern Western philosophy on the social contract, following previous pieces on the classical thinkers Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Hume. This one brings in contemporary thinkers and debates and shows how they build on, modify, and challenge the classic tradition.
THE SOCIAL CONTRACT TODAY
CONTEMPORARY THINKING IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY
12 January 2026
1. From Classic Thought To Contemporary Theory
Social contract theory, from Hobbes through Locke and Rousseau and Hume, once formed the backbone of Western political philosophy by explaining political authority through consent, rights, or collective will. But in the 20th and 21st century, philosophers have both revived and reshaped the idea. Rather than simply re-running old debates, modern social contract theorists investigate the conditions of justice, legitimacy, and cooperation in a pluralistic world.
2. Rawls: Justice As Fairness Beyond Ancient States Of Nature
One of the most influential modern figures is John Rawls. Instead of the historical “state of nature" question, Rawls asks: What principles would free and equal people choose when they do not know how their place in society will be assigned? These two device starting points - the original position and the veil of ignorance - produce a modern contract model aimed at justice as fairness. Behind that veil, no one knows their class, status, or natural talents, so principles chosen are impartial and will protect the least advantaged. Rawls transforms social contract theory into a framework for structuring basic institutions, not merely justifying authority.
For example, he asks how rational people would design their healthcare system if they did not know their own position in society.
3. Contractualism In Moral Philosophy: Gauthier And Others
Beyond political institutions, philosophers like David Gauthier have applied contractualism to ethics itself. Rather than grounding morality in sovereign power (Hobbes) or natural rights (Locke), Gauthier argues that moral constraints arise from the prudent agreements individuals would adopt when cooperating with others who are similarly disposed toward mutual cooperation. This is a strategic contractualism — morality emerges from rational self-interest made stable by mutual benefit.
For example, imagine a group of independent traders who repeatedly do business with one another. There is no sovereign enforcing behaviour, no shared moral code imposed from outside, no appeal to “rights” or higher principles. Each trader is purely self-interested and likely to cheat as n isolation, dishonesty pays.
So each trader asks: “What rules would it be rational for all of us to adopt if we want cooperation to continue?”
And they are likely to converge on norms like honour contracts, disclose relevant information, avoid exploitative behaviour.
This isn't Hobbes (no sovereign enforcing rules), not Locke (no appeal to inherent moral rights (not Rousseau (no collective moral will).
Instead, morality = rational constraints we accept to secure cooperation. And these constraints are self-imposed, conditional, and strategic (strategic meaning serve the goal above of continuing cooperation).
4. Feminist And Critical Perspectives: Contracts And Exclusions
Modern critics of classical social contract theory argue it omits or obscures real power relations in society. For example, Charles W. Mills’ The Racial Contract contends that traditional social contract thinkers implicitly assumed a society of white equals while excluding and subordinating people of colour. This reveals how social contract models may not only explain political legitimacy but also conceal structural injustices.
For example, feminist and critical contract theorists argue that the traditional social contract ignored care work such as childcare and elder care, which is essential to society but historically unpaid and borne mainly by women.
Their practical solution is not moral appeal but institutional redesign: treat care as part of the social contract itself through paid parental leave, pension credits for caregivers, and public childcare and eldercare systems; write this into rules and the law and create institutions to check this path of the contract.
The idea is simple enought - any rational person, not knowing their future position, would agree to social rules that recognise dependency and vulnerability as normal conditions of life, not private misfortunes.
5. Empirical And Evolutionary Challenges
Contemporary scholarship also questions the empirical grounding of classic social contract accounts. Researchers in evolutionary social sciences argue that Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Hume underestimated the complexity of human societies... the parts that exist beyond formal institutions, suggesting that informal norms and social structures often govern behaviour more effectively than abstract contracts. This has led to more nuanced views of human cooperation that combine contract ideas with social biology and culture.
As an example, consider how local cooperation rules are designed and enforced in communities, rules that combine formal contracts with evolved social norms in community-based resource management (for example fisheries, irrigation systems, or shared grazing land).
Instead of relying only on top-down laws or an abstract social contract, the system works like this: basic rules may be legally recognised by the state (who can use the resource, set limits and penalties), but day-to-day cooperation is driven by social biology and culture - things like reputation, reciprocity, peer monitoring, and shame or approval within the group.
People comply not just because of formal sanctions, but because humans are evolutionarily disposed to cooperate when behaviour is visible, repeated, and socially rewarded.
This approach reflects empirical findings (notably from Elinor Ostrom) that humans cooperate best when contracts provide a framework, while local norms and evolved social instincts do the real enforcement. In short: law sets the boundaries, while biology and culture sustain cooperation inside them.
6. Globalisation, Economics, And The Contract Renewed
The social contract in today's world faces new pressures from globalisation and economic transformation. Contemporary philosophers discuss how traditional contract models must adapt to interconnected economies, supranational entities, and new forms of cooperation and inequality. Some argue that social contracts now span economic rights, labour relations, and global justice, requiring renegotiation of obligations and entitlements beyond the Westphalian state.
A clear practical example is labour standards enforced through global supply chains, rather than through any single nation-state.
Implementation
Take multinational manufacturing. Instead of relying solely on national labour laws (which vary and are often weak), global social-contract thinking embeds obligations directly into trade agreements, corporate law, and supply-chain contracts. Firms are legally required to ensure minimum wages, safety standards, and union rights not just at home, but across their overseas suppliers. These obligations are written into contracts between firms, financiers, and states.
Enforcement
Enforcement is hybrid. States impose due-diligence laws and penalties. Courts allow lawsuits across borders. Investors and insurers condition capital on compliance. Consumers and NGOs provide reputational pressure. No single sovereign enforces the contract; instead, overlapping legal, economic, and cultural mechanisms do.
This reflects a new social contract. Workers in another country gain enforceable economic rights not because they are citizens of the same state, but because they are participants in a shared global economic system. Obligations and entitlements now track interdependence, not borders.
In short: the social contract is no longer just between citizen and state, but between states, firms, workers, and markets, enforced through law, contracts, capital flows, and reputation rather than a single sovereign authority.
7. The State, Legitimacy, And Democratic Participation
Modern theorists also focus on how legitimacy is sustained through democratic processes rather than mere historical agreement. Rawlsian contractualism places cooperative principles at the heart of legitimacy, while others argue that citizen participation, deliberation, and public reasoning are essential to a living contract. Contract theory becomes less about a hypothetical origin and more about ongoing political engagement and institutional justice.
A clear practical example is participatory budgeting and institutional oversight embedded in law.
Setup
Instead of grounding legitimacy in a one-off act of consent (elections alone), the system is designed so citizens continuously shape how power is exercised. Laws require local or national governments to allocate part of public spending through participatory processes, citizens’ assemblies, or deliberative forums. These bodies are not advisory only; their decisions are legally binding within defined limits.
Implementation
Citizens are randomly selected or openly invited to deliberate on budgets, policy priorities, or regulatory trade-offs, supported by expert input and transparent data. Institutions are structured so participation is routine, not exceptional. Justice is built into procedures rather than asserted by authority.
Enforcement
Compliance is enforced through administrative law, courts, and auditing bodies. If authorities ignore outcomes or undermine participation, decisions can be challenged legally, funding withheld, or officials sanctioned. Legitimacy is maintained not by origin stories (A clear practical example is participatory budgeting and institutional oversight embedded in law.
Setup
Instead of grounding legitimacy in a one-off act of consent (elections alone), the system is designed so citizens continuously shape how power is exercised. Laws require local or national governments to allocate part of public spending through participatory processes, citizens’ assemblies, or deliberative forums. These bodies are not advisory only; their decisions are legally binding within defined limits.
Implementation
Citizens are randomly selected or openly invited to deliberate on budgets, policy priorities, or regulatory trade-offs, supported by expert input and transparent data. Institutions are structured so participation is routine, not exceptional. Justice is built into procedures rather than asserted by authority.
Enforcement
Compliance is enforced through administrative law, courts, and auditing bodies. If authorities ignore outcomes or undermine participation, decisions can be challenged legally, funding withheld, or officials sanctioned. Legitimacy is maintained not by origin stories,A clear practical example is participatory budgeting and institutional oversight embedded in law.
Setup
Instead of grounding legitimacy in a one-off act of consent (elections alone), the system is designed so citizens continuously shape how power is exercised. Laws require local or national governments to allocate part of public spending through participatory processes, citizens’ assemblies, or deliberative forums. These bodies are not advisory only; their decisions are legally binding within defined limits.
Implementation
Citizens are randomly selected or openly invited to deliberate on budgets, policy priorities, or regulatory trade-offs, supported by expert input and transparent data. Institutions are structured so participation is routine, not exceptional. Justice is built into procedures rather than asserted by authority.
Enforcement
Compliance is enforced through administrative law, courts, and auditing bodies. If authorities ignore outcomes or undermine participation, decisions can be challenged legally, funding withheld, or officials sanctioned. Legitimacy is maintained not by origin stories but by ongoing fairness of process... ie, the “contract” is no longer a hypothetical agreement in the past. It is a living institutional arrangement where legitimacy depends on continuous participation, transparency, and just procedures. Citizens are not just subjects who once consented, but active co-authors of the system as it operates.
8. Social Contract And Contemporary Justice Movements
Contract theory today also intersects with movements for justice, including feminist critiques, racial justice, economic rights, and environmental ethics. These perspectives insist that a just political order must address systemic inequalities and recognise historically marginalised voices, challenging any contract model that simply assumes idealised conditions of equality and consent.
9. What Has Changed — And What Hasn’t
Modern thinkers keep the core intuition of original contract theorists — that legitimate authority must be grounded in mutual justification — while radically reinterpreting what that means in a complex world. The state of nature becomes a thought experiment, the veil of ignorance is a tool for justice, and cooperation extends beyond national borders and into economic structures.
10. The Social Contract Today: A Living Debate
The social contract is no longer a single answer to political authority. It is a framework for discussing justice, legitimacy, cooperation, and inclusion in societies that are far more complex than Hobbes’, Locke’s, or Rousseau’s. Contemporary philosophy has shifted from imagining how societies began to how they ought to function now — how justice is constructed, defended, and lived.
In this sense, the social contract remains vital:
not as a historical mechanism, but as a principle of normative evaluation in debates about democracy, rights, and justice in the modern world.
Pastis - Pernod - available at the local bottle shop
