ABSTRACT
There are four distinctive aspects to Kant’s theory of the social contract. The first (and perhaps the most well known) is that Kant entirely does away with any supposition that a social contract has actually been concluded by the members of any particular society. He sees the social contract as an intellectual construct with moral and practical significance. It is a notion that should affect our motives and intentions in acting rather than one which arises in observing the world. Second, the notion of a social contract is connected to a programme of political reform which it is incumbent upon the rulers and the subjects of a state to try to implement. In Kant’s view there is a certain kind of political system which fits best with the idea of a social contract and as rational beings we have a duty to work peacefully to bring such a system into being.
