Introductory

In recent decades the theory of social contract, long thought by many to be by now of purely historical interest, has enjoyed a spectacular rebirth. Primarily this has been a phenomenon of political and moral philosophy, yet it has manifested itself too at the level of practical politics. ‘At the heart of our programme to save the nation lies the Social Contract’; these are the words of the manifesto published by the British Labour Party just before its victory in the election of October 1974 1 — the second general election of that year. It was a year that saw sharp economic and political crisis in Britain and elsewhere, which the redemptionist language of the manifesto reflects. In this crisis the nation was to look for its salvation to the social contract.

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