The social contract theory is based on the story of a hypothetical “state of nature” in which people lived without government and then formed a “social contract” to invent a government. However, even...

The social contract theory is based on the story of a hypothetical “state of nature” in which people lived without government and then formed a “social contract” to invent a government. However, even the defenders of the theory acknowledge that they cannot point to an actual historical situation in which such a formation occurred. Instead, all we find in history are situations in which one form of government arose from a previous form of government. If the main thrust of the social contract theory is based on a hypothetical, fictional thought experiment, does this basis undermine the value of the theory as a justification of actual governments?