In political thinking , the social contract refers to a model that typically address the legitimacy of the powers of a state or government over its subjects. It is the opinion that an individual’s political or moral obligations depend on the agreement they have with the society they live in. The theory of social contract emerged in the era of enlightenment, and its arguments usually suppose that individuals have implicitly or explicitly agreed to give up their liberty and comply with the authority of the ruler, which is often the rule of the majority (Turner, 2020). This paper discusses the attempts of social contract theory to justify government authority as well as the application of these theories in the legalization of drugs.
According to Hobbes, there was no legitimate criteria for right and wrong in a state of nature. Human beings did what they considered right, resulting in a nasty, solitary, poor, and short human life. The natural state was thus a state of "war of all against all," which could only end if people consented through the social contract to trade their liberty to an absolute sovereign in exchange for the safety of their lives provided by the same sovereign authority (Turner, 2020). Hobbes defines the contract as a mutual transfer of rights that justifies the authority of governments on their citizens and protects the rights of the citizen to an orderly society as well as safe lives.
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Hobbes was both radical and conservative in his theories. Radically, he argued that political authority and duties to a sovereign are dependent on the interests of society members who he believed to be equal with no person having authority to control others. At the same time, he maintained the conventional position that for a society to survive, a sovereign authority had to be given absolute power. Hobbes' justification for government authority and obligation is that human beings are self-interested and, at the same time, rational. People agree to comply with the government under the sole condition of self-interest- to live in a civil society. The assumption that the first priority for people is to avoid their own deaths makes men submit to a government in exchange for protection. As they seek this self-interest, they create a government and give it legal authority over society (Turner, 2020) .
The legalization of drugs is contrary to Hobbes's theory. Hobbes's social contract theory argues that some amount of individual liberty is necessary to give up for the sake of common security. If every person is allowed to do whatever he wants all the time, humans would always be at war. Legalization of drugs conflicts this theory as it would give people the liberty to use drugs freely, causing social disorder, crime, war, and an anarchical state of nature as described in Hobbes' theory. Moreover, the theory highlights the power of sovereign authority, which acts on lawbreakers, leaving no chance for drug legalization.
Locke, on the other hand, held the state of nature as the natural and ideal setting for human beings and not a state of war as Hobbes opined. He described the state as a state of perfect and comprehensive freedom to live life as one finds it fit devoid of external interference. In this state, there is no government to punish lawbreakers, but this does not mean that there is no morality. Locke argued that the state of nature is only pre-historical but not pre-moral. The assumption is that all people are equal, thus equally able to abide by the natural law, which, according to Locke, is the God-given basis of morality ( Fritz, 2019) . This law of nature requires people to live together without harming each other regardless of possession, health, or liberty.
Property plays a defining role in Locke's theory of social contract. Despite his argument that the state of nature is a peaceful one, he agreed that it could change into a state of conflicts and war over property and possessions. Given that there is no controlling authority or government in the state of nature, once a war starts, it is likely to continue ( Fritz, 2019) . For instance, if a man declares war on another due to stolen property, the plaintiff may end up killing the accused as a way of defending himself and protecting his property. The concept of property in Locke's theory of social contract justifies government authority as it provides civil bodies to appeal to in case of property conflicts.
Locke's theory of social contact would support the legalization of drug use. The theory argues that people are guided by the law of nature, where there is no government or sovereign authority. Since people in the state of nature illustrated in Locke's theory, live the way they deem it fit, those who want to take drugs will freely do so as there is no civil authority to regulate the practice. However, this will cause anarchy as the consequences of drug legalization, such as increased crime, robbery, rape, among others, will take over society.
References
Turner, I. (2020). Conceptualising a protection of liberal constitutionalism post 9/11: an emphasis upon rights in the social contract philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. The International Journal of Human Rights , 1-24.
Fritz, S. (2019). Political Obligation and Lockean Contract Theory. Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy , 7 (1), 6.
