Tutorial # 7. Social Contract Theory. Discussion Questions

In light of the Introduction to Part X Contractarianism in Shafer-Landau R. ed., 2007 Ethical Theory: an anthology, and after having read "The Stag Hunt" by Brian Skyrms, think about the following questions.

• Where do norms come from?
• How should we study the origin and justification of citizens' duty to obey the law? Should we look at anthropology, history, sociology, etc?
  
• What does generate a duty to obey the law?
• What's the nature of the agreement envisaged by contractarianists? Does it need to be real, explicit and formalised? Consider Hobbes's state of nature and Rawls's original position.
• How should we characterize the contracting parties (ie the people who are about to agree on a "social contract")? Should they be smart? omniscient? emotional?
  
• How should we conceive of their conditions of choice? Are deliberations sensitive to time? Is there any external pressure? Should debate be allowed? Are all parties in the same position?
  
• What should the subject matter of the negotiations be? Should all aspects of social interaction be discussed? What kind of rules (particular or very abstract) should be fixed?
  
• Do you find it reasonable that you renounce in part to your liberty to be protected from murder, stealing and cheating?
• Why don't people generally free-ride (ie break some rule to reap a windfall) in our society?
• Do we have good reason to do something only if doing it will serve our self-interest?
• In which sense the Stag Hunt is the 'prototype of the social contract'?
• What are the differences\similarities between the prisoners' dilemma and the stag hunt?
  
• What is an "equilibrium"? Take a look at the game theoretic definition of the stag hunt.
  
• Are evolutionary game theoretic explanations of social phenomena irrelevant to understand the nature and dynamics of morality? Think about the kind of explanation of the social contract given by Skyrms.