Reciprocity in Morality and Law

Ronit Donyets Kedar

doi:10.1515/1938-2545.1073

Article

Reciprocity in Morality and Law

Ronit Donyets Kedar

Published/Copyright: January 17, 2013

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From the journal The Law & Ethics of Human Rights Volume 6 Issue 2

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.

Keywords: Rights and reciprocity; morality and law; social contract theory; ethical contractualism; legal and moral rights

Assistant Prof. of Law, The Academic Center of Law and Business; Head of The Corporate Social Responsibility Institute, The Academic Center of Law and Business.

Published Online: 2013-01-17

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/1938-2545.1073

Keywords for this article

Rights and reciprocity; morality and law; social contract theory; ethical contractualism; legal and moral rights