“The concept of the social contract is based on a simple exchange by which individual freedom is exchanged for the security that comes from living in a society based on law. Discuss, considering the ideas of both Hobbes and Rousseau.”

The concept of social contract was originated by Thomas Hobbes, one of the greatest thinkers of the sixteenth century who wrote Leviathan. In the Leviathan, Hobbes suggested that humans are driven by only two impulses, fear of death and desire for power. Human beings would act on these impulses and live inhumane, brutish and violent lives if they were left unrestricted. According to Hobbes, human beings are driven by innate passions and if it was not for the presence of a sovereign or government, then these passions would force the human beings into inevitable conflicts to find means for survival….(short extract)