Contractualism and aggregation
Article Abstract:
The general contractualist account of wrongness lends support to the moral significance of numbers, particularly the 'cases of equal harms' and the 'cases of small inequalities in harm.' However, this moral principle of saving the greater number of people may create problems if interpreted under the model of reasonable rejectability based on T.M. Scanlon's concept of contractualism. In this model, a principle can be rejected if reasonable grounds exist. Moreover, the point of view of each individual is considered.
Publication Name: Ethics
Subject: Philosophy and religion
ISSN: 0014-1704
Year: 1998
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The moral legislature: contractualism without an Archimedean point
Article Abstract:
A moral contract theory based on actual consent can be conceived as a moral legislature in which practices are approved by unanimous vote of rational agents deliberating under real time constraints. The legislature is Kantian in procedure, but the arguments tend to be utilitarian. This model can be used to show why 'do not kill' is a moral rule, but 'obey the law' is not. Although the moral legislature is slow to change and may not generate many moral rules, it does offer insights into moral practice.
Publication Name: Ethics
Subject: Philosophy and religion
ISSN: 0014-1704
Year: 1992
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Compatibilism and contractualism: The possibility of moral responsibility
Article Abstract:
A distinctively contractualist principle for compatibilism is proposed to defend moral responsibility where its possibility is not dependent on the falsehood of determinism. It is observed that the truth of determinism is not an obstacle to the fairness of holding people responsible.
Publication Name: Ethics
Subject: Philosophy and religion
ISSN: 0014-1704
Year: 2006
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