The Contract in Philosophical Thought: A Study in the Philosophy of Law

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate the development of the idea of ​​the contract from a philosophical perspective, and to know the philosophy of the balance of civil contracts. The philosophical approach was used to study and derive the idea of ​​the balance of civil contracts as one of the pillars of contracts. The study reached a number of results, the most important of which are: The principle of the authority of the will in creating legal actions, but within its reasonable limits, in which the will is balanced with justice and the public interest. This is what is meant by the objectivity of the contractual will. The principle of good faith in negotiations always works to achieve contractual balance because it aims to protect legitimate trust in transactions, in order to conclude a contract based on informed consent to the contract by its parties. Although this principle is stipulated to be dealt with in the stage of interpreting and implementing the contract, the prevailing opinion in jurisprudence and judiciary is to work with it in the stage prior to contracting as a moral duty. Contractual negotiations give the will complete freedom to decide the fate of the contract. When the will enters into contractual negotiations, it is able to determine the effects of the contract, which is something that is taken away from it in contracts of adhesion. Contractual negotiations play a fundamental role in achieving contractual balance, because they protect the contract from defects, by allowing the negotiating parties to review the terms of the contract, and thus they are a guarantee for the weak party against the strong party that has economic and legal dominance over the contract. The study recommended many recommendations, the most important of which are: paying attention to the principle of good faith in general in contracting in all stages of the contract, and stipulating it and formulating it in a clear legal formulation in the stage preceding the contract. Also, paying attention to studying the stage of contractual negotiations in the stage preceding the conclusion of the contract, and allocating a legal regulation for it that regulates the relationship between the negotiators in Egyptian civil law.