The appearance of social contract arises from evolved mutualistic obligation, not real agreement.

Evidence

Indeed, in a system of mutuality, individuals really owe others many goods and services – they have to help others – for if they failed to fulfill their duties towards others, they would reap the benefits of mutuality without paying its costs (Scanlon 1998). This “proactive” aspect of much moral behavior is responsible for the “illusion” that individuals act as if they had previously agreed on a contract with one another. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 83

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Inverts the social-contract tradition: rather than contracts creating duties, evolved mutualistic duties create the illusion of a prior contract. This is a paradigm-shifting reframing of political philosophy’s founding metaphor.
• QUESTION: If the contract is an illusion generated by mutuality, what happens to contract reasoning when the mutualistic base is deliberately broken by forced public apostasy — does the illusion of obligation to God also dissolve?
• XREF: connects to: Stable unconditional cooperation exists and mutualism alone cannot explain it. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 411; Moral obligations derive from objective ideality, not from society or individual will — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 356; Group solidarity and in-group favoritism derive from mutualistic relationships, not independent moral rules. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 705 (+4 more)

Related

• Stable unconditional cooperation exists and mutualism alone cannot explain it. (similarity 0.85)
• Morality requires mutual advantage, not strict accounting of reciprocated acts. (similarity 0.82)
• Group solidarity and in-group favoritism derive from mutualistic relationships, not independent moral rules. (similarity 0.81)
• Morality evolved as a propensity for fair cost-benefit sharing among cooperators. (similarity 0.80)
• People feel moral obligations they never actually agreed to. (similarity 0.80)
• Reciprocal altruism is really mutualism, not altruism (similarity 0.80)
• Morality is about fair cooperation, not maximizing welfare. (similarity 0.80)
• Morality extends beyond fairness among strangers to relational obligations (similarity 0.79)
• Morality is an evolved sense of fairness, not a late intellectual achievement (similarity 0.79)
• Mutualism faces three challenges, all involving cost without visible return. (similarity 0.79)
• Mutualism pays off through average expected benefits, not guaranteed returns (similarity 0.79)
• Cooperation and morality are distinct categories. (similarity 0.79)
• Generalized reciprocity cannot be explained by partner-control mechanisms. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Group solidarity and in-group favoritism derive from mutualistic relationships, not independent moral rules. #corroborates (0.90) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 705
• Moral obligations derive from objective ideality, not from society or individual will #expands (0.85) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 356
• Reciprocal altruism is really mutualism, not altruism #corroborates (0.85) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 211
• Morality requires mutual advantage, not strict accounting of reciprocated acts. #expands (0.80) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 214
• Cooperation arises from partner choice, not reciprocal tit-for-tat, across species and human development. #corroborates (0.75) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 593