Social Contract: About Approaches to Its Theoretization and Its Philosophical Prospects

The authors raise the question of the content of the concept of “social contract theory”, discuss the key socio-philosophical content of social contract theories and modern views on it. The object of the study is the social contract as a philosophical concept, the subject of the study is the currently developed ways of interpreting and applying this concept. The goal towards which the research presented in the article is aimed is to understand the ways of developing the concept of a social contract and the prospects for its further socio-philosophical use. The significance of the concept of a social contract for discussing the ontological foundations of the norms and obligations implemented in society that arise between the actors of social interaction is revealed. The theoretical and methodological innovations used by modern authors are analyzed to develop the concept of the social contract. In the course of this study, the authors used methods of comparative analysis (in relation to the considered ways of understanding the social contract), analytical and interpretive methods, and a historical-genetic method (in the context of considering ways of developing the concept of a social contract). The scientific novelty of the study lies in the formulation of assumptions regarding the philosophical prospects for the development of the concepts of social contract, as well as in the discussion of the meaning and methods of application of these concepts. Based on the study, the authors conclude that the concept of a social contract is of current importance in the context of reflecting the foundations of norms regulating social interaction.

social contract, consent, agreement, equilibrium, vertical social contract, horizontal social contract, revision of social contract, ontology of social norms, contractualism, contractarianism