[PDF] Morals By Agreement eBook

Author : David Gauthier
Publisher : Clarendon Press
Page : 376 pages
File Size : 23,69 MB
Release : 1987-05-21
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0191520144

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In this book the author argues that moral principles are principles of rational choice. According to the usual view of choice, a rational person selects what is likely to give the greatest expectation of value or utility. But in many situations, if each person chooses in this way, everyone will be worse off than need be. Instead, Professor Gauthier proposes a principle whereby choice is made on an agreed basis of co-operation, rather than according to what would give the individual the greatest expectation of value. He shows that such a principle not only ensures mutual benefit and fairness, thus satisfying the standards of morality, but also that each person may actually expect greater utility by adhering to morality, even though the choice did not have that end primarily in view. In resolving what may appear to be a paradox, the author establishes morals on the firm foundation of reason.

Author : Peter Vallentyne
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 388 pages
File Size : 31,73 MB
Release : 1991-01-25
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780521398152

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In this anthology, prominent moral and political philosophers offer a critical assessment of Gauthier's theory.

Author : David P. Gauthier
Publisher :
Page : 367 pages
File Size : 24,49 MB
Release : 1986
Category : Contractarianism (Ethics)
ISBN : 9780191597497

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This book defends the traditional conception of morality as a rational, impartial constraint on the pursuit of individual interest or benefit.

Author : Peter Vallentyne
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 356 pages
File Size : 22,77 MB
Release : 1991-01-25
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780521398152

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David Gauthier's Morals by Agreement (1986) is the most complete and suggestive contractarian theory of morality since the work of Rawls. In this anthology a number of prominent moral and political philosophers offer a critical assessment of Gauthier's theory and its three main projects: developing a contractarian foundation for morality, defending a theory of rational choice, and supporting the claim that rationality requires one to keep one's agreements. An introduction sets out Gauthier's project, while Gauthier himself has the last word, responding to the critiques. This collection will interest moral and political philosophers, social theorists, and specialists in the philosophy and theory of law as well as management sciences.

Author : David Gauthier
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 383 pages
File Size : 37,18 MB
Release : 2019-05-15
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 1501745794

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David Gauthier is one of the most outstanding and influential philosophers working in moral theory today, and his book Morals by Agreement (1986) has established him as a preeminent defender of contractarian moral theory. This volume brings together a selection of his best essays on contractarianism, many of which have become difficult to find.

Author : Malcolm Murray
Publisher : McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Page : 411 pages
File Size : 33,72 MB
Release : 2017-09-27
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0773551816

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How are we meant to behave? And how are we to defend whatever answer we give? Morals and Consent grounds our notion of morality in natural evolution, and from that basis, Malcolm Murray shows why contractarianism is a far more viable moral theory than is widely believed. The scope of Morals and Consent has two main parts: theory and application. In his discussion of theory, Murray defends contractarianism by appealing to evolutionary game theory and metaethical analyses. His main argument is that we are not going to find morality as an objective fact in the world, and that instead, we can understand morality as a reciprocal cooperative trait. From this minimal moral architecture, Murray derives his innovative consent principle. The application of the theory, detailing what contractarians can – or ought to – say about moral matters, takes up the greater portion of the work. Murray offers a trenchant examination of what moral constraints we can claim concerning death (abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment), sex (pornography, prostitution, and sexual assault), beneficence (toward present and future people, animals, and the environment), and liberty (genetic enhancement, organ sales, and torture). By focusing on evolutionary contractarianism and the epistemic justification of our moral claims – or lack thereof – Malcolm Murray’s Morals and Consent is a serious advance in the field of applied ethics and fills an important void.