Social contract theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social contract theory - Essay Example Therefore in a political sense, the State is the representation of the means by which a group of individuals relate to each other out of the common will to live with other human beings in the community. Hegel views the State as the agent of true freedom for the individual. The basis of self consciousness in an individual, according to Hegel, lies not in his active thinking actions but in the active desires existing within the individual which are in negation. Hegel views self consciousness as desire and he believes that self consciousness can exist only through sublation in a referent other. The certainty of self and individual existence may be obtained through the gratification of the individual’s desires, however these are conditioned by the other; certainty exists only through the cancellation of the other, therefore if a cancellation of the desire is to be effected, there must be the other. (Hegel, 1967). Therefore Hegel does not view the individual a splaying a significant role in politics, except as a part of an institution, i.e, the State. The State is the form of inward self-expression of the people in an objective form. The validation of the individual would exist only in the form of recognition attained from others. For example, where individual ownership of property is concerned, such a property would belong to the person only to the extent that it is recognized by others, i.e, by the State. Being thus recognized by others symbolizes the individual’s struggle for recognition. The State in effect represents the subjective will of a collective group of people. Applying Hegel’s views, an individual’s nature is governed by desire and his self consciousness expresses itself in the form of the gratification of desires. However, according to Hegel, such gratification of desires can occur only in the context of some referent other, i.e, individual recognition is dependent upon recognition by others. In