Reciprocity in Morality and Law
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Ronit Donyets Kedar
Abstract
Western liberal thought, which is rooted in the social contract tradition, views the relationship between rational contractors as fundamental to the authority of law, politics, and morality. Within this liberal discourse, dominant strands of modern moral philosophy claim that morality too is best understood in contractual terms. Accordingly, others are perceived first and foremost as autonomous, free, and equal parties to a reciprocal cooperative scheme, designed for mutual advantage.
This Article aims to challenge the contractual model as an appropriate framework for morality. My claim is that the constituting concepts of contractualist thought, especially the idea of reciprocity, while perhaps fitting to law, are misplaced in morality. I argue that importing the concept of reciprocity and its conceptual habitat from law to morality yields ethical contractualism an unconvincing moral theory.
©2013 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Article
- Human Rights, the Laws of War, and Reciprocity
- Justice in Asymmetric Wars: A Contractarian Analysis
- Reciprocity in Morality and Law
- Reciprocal Antidiscrimination Arguments
- Note
- Note: Reciprocity of Rights and Duties, Benefits and Burdens: National Service for Israeli Arabs
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Article
- Human Rights, the Laws of War, and Reciprocity
- Justice in Asymmetric Wars: A Contractarian Analysis
- Reciprocity in Morality and Law
- Reciprocal Antidiscrimination Arguments
- Note
- Note: Reciprocity of Rights and Duties, Benefits and Burdens: National Service for Israeli Arabs
