Flying the Confederate Flag

Match one of the following ethical theories. Aristotelian Virtue Ethics
Immanuel Kant’s Deontological Ethics
Jeremy Bentham/John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism
Social Contract Theory
Divine Command Theory Or Natural Law Theory
John Rawls’ Theory of Justice
Ethical Egoism (not psychological egoism)
Evolutionary Morality
Care Ethics
Ethical Relativism
Prima Facie Duties (W. D. Ross

Flying the Confederate Flag

On July 9 2015, Governor Nikki Haley signed a bill that required the confederate flag to be removed from the South State House. Displaying the confederate flag was a symbol of racial inequality and hatred. Flying the confederate flag has been an attempt to intimidate the African Americans and opposition of civil rights. Flying the confederate flag ignites tension and historic traumas. The social contract theory argues that there is a need to form a state that offers neutral judgement acting to protect the liberty, lives and property of those living in it (Abdulralman, 189). Social contract theory states that people need the same basic things to survive, shelter food, water, and clothing.

One person alone cannot have things for certain. Therefore, people need to work together in offering all these things for everyone as long as there is a contract that ensures that people live peacefully with less fear. This theory tries to bring a perception that the moral obligations of an individual are dependent upon an agreement or contract among them or within a society. According to Campos, social contract theory argues that people live together peacefully when they agree with the established political, moral, and legal rules of behavior (579). Ideally, when people live according to the social contract, it means that people live morally by their own choice, not by the divine that demands them to but per the agreement (Sytnichenko, 76).

The social contract theory aims to show the society members that they have a reason to comply and endorse the basic social laws, rules, principles, and institutions within the society (Inoguchi,10). The ultimate goal of the social contract theory is that society, which entails the moral, legal, and political rules, can be justified rationally. The true distinctiveness of the social contract is that justification can be achieved through rational agreement (McCandless, 3). The fact that everyone is given their reason will agree with certain principles and rules critical in justification.

Works Cited

Abdulralman, Abubakar, and Isaac I. Akuva. “Thomas Hobbes Social Contract Theory and the Menace of Banditry in Katsina State.” FUDMA JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 3.1 (2020): 189-198.

Campos, Andre Santos. “The Idea of the Social Contract in the History of ‘Agreementism.'” The European Legacy 24.6 (2019): 579-596.

Inoguchi, Takashi, and Lien Thi Quynh Le. “Global Social Contract Theory.” The Development of Global Legislative Politics. Springer, Singapore, 2020. 9-23.

McCandless, Erin. “Resilient Social Contracts and Peace: Towards a Needed Reconceptualization.” (2020): 1-21.

Sytnichenko, L. A., and D. V. Usov. “To the basics of modern political anthropology: Freedom and justice in the social contract theory of T. Hobbes.” Anthropological Measurements of Philosophical Research 17 (2020): 76-87.