In case you are interested in more than my ad hoc explanation that likely does not do these ideas justice, this is the work I refer to. I am a fan of Nietzsche, but admit I am partial to this theory, which is actually quite similar to Kaczynski's writing on morality. No hard feelings if this isn't your bag, I just share because its something I found interesting, and I hold your taste in high esteem

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract#David_Gauthier's_Morals_By_Agreement_(1986)

Thanks for this, I recall hearing of Gauthier's work discussed, perhaps this is in part where I'm picking this up from. I'll look into this further as it does interest me 👍

I'm currently reading John Locke who also wrote of natural law and the social contract, going on to say that human nature of reason and tolerance is not enough to maintain order so we created a civil society to deal with such things. Locke's work has fascinated me as what could be seen as a foundation of many areas of modern politics and influencing the American constitution. Importantly, defining the separation of the church and the state.