Sunday, March 20, 2011

"It is impossible to explain how social order is maintained without the role of ideologies." Explain and assess?

Thomas Hobbes' social contract theory is based on the premise that people are generally motivated by self-preservation, which doesn't lend itself well to the creation or sustainability of societies or communities. Given that, Hobbes' posited that for societies to function properly, the people must agree on a basic set of rules or laws that will govern their behavior and contribute to a cohesive society.


These rules and laws allow for different groups and organizations to co-exist and for cultures to develop, all of which keep societies stable. This co-existence and productive adherence to the social contract is known as the social order.


Because social order is based on laws, rules, and a particular set of beliefs, it is impossible to separate social order from the ideologies that inform those beliefs. For example, most people would agree that stealing from your neighbor is wrong because it weakens your bond with your neighbor and can undermine a stable society. However, to say that something is "wrong" implies a moral judgement, meaning that this particular governing law has been informed by an ideology. In fact, the majority of the laws that govern societies are based on collective ideas about what is and isn't moral behavior, most of which is subjective and heavily influenced by ideologies and belief systems.

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