Contractualism

Catalog description

Perhaps the most prominent alternative to consequentialism today is contractualism, the theory that an act is wrong when it's forbidden by a principle that no one could reasonably reject. This seminar will offer a graduate-level introduction to contractualism and explore some of the many contemporary debates surrounding the theory. What does it mean for a principle to be one that "no one could reasonably reject?" Does the idea of "reasonable rejection" smuggle in a prior notion of moral wrongness, or collapse into consequentialist-style aggregation? Should contractualists really focus on principles rather than individual acts? And is contractualism (just) a theory of right and wrong, or is it something more - a theory of "what we owe to each other"? Our investigation of questions like these will lead us not only to intervene in ongoing debates about contractualism, but also to confront several important issues in contemporary moral theory more broadly. 2 unit option only for Philosophy PhDs beyond the second year.