The Main Content And Theoretical Analysis Of Gauthier's Self-serving Contract Theory

In the evolution of the social contract theory,its theoretical framework gradually changed from the demonstration of the relationship between rights and obligations in political life to the individual development of each member of society.The social contract theory not only interprets the origin and development of morality,but also demonstrates the importance of the rule of law and contract in modern life.The ethical connotation of equality,freedom,and autonomy of meaning still brings us profound enlightenment.In the development of social contract theory,Gauthier's self-serving contract theory attracted attention.He reinterpreted the origin of morality with his unique perspective of argumentation and revived our thinking on the relationship between social morality and personal interests.This article is divided into three parts to discuss Gauthier's self-serving contract theory.In the first part,this article focuses on the development of traditional contract theory,the main representatives of classical and modern contract theory and their related theories,and Gauthier's self-serving contract theory on the inheritance and development of traditional contract theory.However,he has greatly improved the contract theory.He does not think that the origin of morality is based on human emotions or customary conventions in society.In his self-serving contract theory,he focused on the close relationship between morality and interests.He tried to prove that the practice of morality in real life does not need to be similar to the deliberate maintenance of the state's coercive force,but merely by virtue of the rational choice of individual behaviors,it is possible to reach an agreement that meets his own interests in social cooperation.In the second part,this article mainly discusses the evolution process of Gauthier's core "covenant morality" in self-serving contract theory.He takes rational choice theory as his theoretical basis,and "prisoner's dilemma" is the key issue.Gauthier's theory of analyzing prisoner's dilemma proves thatprotocol morality is based on the condition that each rational individual gives up the maximization of extreme interests,and maximizes self-serving through social cooperation.He further refined the ethical principles,which is,"a kind of limitation on the extreme interests of moral subjects in order to maximize their own interests." After proposing the concept of protocol morality,he ensures that the protocol morality can be accepted and followed by social individuals by setting up a maximizing scheme of restraint.In the third part,this article discusses Gauthier's theoretical analysis.First,Gauthier re-nterpreted the moral theory,resolved the issue of obedience to the rationality of the moral rules,and respected and protected the legitimate interests of each individual society.Gauthier value the in dependent value of people and argues that an ancient question "Why should people be moral?" Secondly,Gauthier's self-serving contract theory also has great inspiration for China's current economic operation system.In the operation of the market economy,the government should rationally decentralize power and give full play to the market's regulatory role.However,there are many problems in Gauthier's self-serving contract theory.His assumptions made in basic theory are still worth deliberation.His contractual framework does not fully reflect the complex social living environment,and the contract theory does not reflect the protection of vulnerable groups.However,whether successful or not,Gauthier's theory still has a great vitality and brings us profound enlightenment.