Social Contract Analysis

Social Contract Analysis

The Social Contract in Action

This week, we study the concept of the social contract (the agreement between a given group of people about how they will function in relation to one another). Although few media explicitly mention a social contract, much coverage of ethical issues, public policy, and political or social debates do include some form of one.

So, consider headlines past or present, examples from your observations and experiences as a consumer of media, an educated reader, and an active citizen.

Choose a situation and examine, how the social contract’s expressed therein. See if you can state the social contract in a topic sentence that relates the individual to the group, the “invisible” agreement, or the “unspoken” bond.  What does this situation offer you to learn or remember (through laughter, horror, tears, or introspection) about the human condition via this intangible social contract?

Your collaborative set will benefit from your meeting with classmates, to brainstorm, and perhaps find a common theme or topic to narrow in on.

You MUST USE evidence from John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and/or Jean-Jacques Rosseau, whom we are covering this week (see our lesson and/or use outside sources), to support your ideas about the social contract in your chosen example. Their ideas may or may not dovetail with the social contract as expressed in the instance you’re covering. You can use them as a comparison, contrast, or both. You MUST CITE their works where you refer to them.

Your four slides–everyone uploads only his/her own version, and his/her particular choice of principles, applications, and examples– will follow in this order.

A one-sentence thesis laying out the presentation’s guiding idea and the main points supporting it (the main points occur in items 2 and 3, below). No separate title slide is needed, as this part segues into:

Two main slides, one that explains your chosen situation, and one that explains how the social contract applies, using practical examples. These slides should have in-text citations for all quotes, paraphrases, and outside information that you use as support for your explanation. Address specific concepts about how individuals do or should interact in a given group.

A third body slide that explores why you back Locke, Hobbes, and/or Rousseau in explaining how the social contract is so important to human interaction that it underlies the situation you’re presenting. Include citations.

A conclusion that reflects upon your thesis and how you’ve supported it. Add who and what you benefited from your “set” of classmates you’re assigned to. Do not forget that explicit citing or interpretation of your choice among the three thinkers is mandatory. This does not mean copy + paste of long quotes.

You should use quality sources from our library and other judiciously chosen research. Wikipedia, “About” sites, and the like are for getting a quick picture of a topic, not for citing in college-level papers. Do not use big chunks of outside information to share someone else’s argument; rather, reflect on well-chosen nuggets of outside information that define, clarify, and support your argument. If you use illustrations, they aren’t casual clipart, but related to the topic precisely.