Since time immemorial, the social contract has been regarded as a promising gift to the world, received on the Sinai of Enlightenment. Dissenting voices against it have long since fallen silent in the darkness of bygone eras. However, it is worthwhile to examine those thinkers who have pointed out significant shortcomings of the social contract. In particular, in order to gain a fruitful external perspective on our increasingly complex societal problems, it is meaningful to turn to anti-social contract theories. Thus, this volume seeks to gain illuminating insights in the context of the history of political ideas by juxtaposing their most significant representatives, Carl Ludwig von Haller and Joseph Graf de Maistre.