abstract
- Copyright © 2021, Author(s).Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Kant are often considered contractualist thinkers because they share the narrative logic that the State has a pactual origin. By establishing the boundaries of Contractualism (and of Contractarianism) with respect to other theories about the origin of the State, looking for kindred philosophical positions, and evaluating the internal coherence in the narratives of these authors, this article contrasts the authors main arguments with the requirements demanded by philosophy to conform a unified theoretical body.