| 释义 | social contract (also social compact) nounAn implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection. Theories of a social contract became popular in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries among theorists such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as a means of explaining the origin of government and the obligations of subjects.The rights we have are there by accord and by some kind of social contract - a social contract that is also to an extent built upon biology....As is true in society, an implicit social contract serves as the basis for maintaining order in schools.The social compact underpinning any society is that citizens are not permitted to kill or maim their fellows.
 |