Moral Contract And Rational Choice

As a representative of the contemporary moral contract theory,Gauthier's "Morals by Agreement" theory is an important development and innovation of the traditional Contractarianism,He links the moral contract with the rational choice,and tries to prove that the rational people who pursue the maximization of utility will reach a consensus when faced with the choice of behavioral strategy,and form a cooperative agreement that manifests the moral principles and complies with them.Such an agreement would fairly restrict people's pursuit of utility maximization,which seems to be contrary to the starting point of rational self-interest,but its rationality lies in the fact that it goes beyond the sub-optimal situation caused by externalities and other drawbacks in the non-cooperative state,making everyone benefit and reaching the overall optimal situation.To reach a cooperation agreement,it is necessary to establish a fair and reasonable starting point for the agreement and resolve the differences in the interests of all parties.There is also the issue of compliance after the agreement is reached,that is,whether rational actors have sufficient reasons to comply with the agreement without betraying it.On this issue,Gauthier tried to prove that the "Constrained Maximization" tendency of choosing to accept contractual constraints is reasonable and that moral constraints and rational requirements are not in conflict with each other by distinguishing between the two choices and calculating the expected utility of the choices under different situations.This paper is mainly divided into four parts,the first part is the theoretical background,introduces the two paths of the moral contract theory,the basic elements and the development of the Contractarianism.The second and third parts are the main discussion of the theory,which can be divided into four aspects.Firstly,through the analysis of perfect competition market and the interference of externality,this paper discusses the necessity of moral constraint and cooperative agreement.Secondly,the establishment of the agreement starting point,the justice of the agreement starting point needs to be free from the pressure of coercion and the constraint of Lockean Proviso on the the initial bargaining position.Then there is the principle of rational cooperation in the process of agreement.The conclusion of the agreement needs to reconcile the differences in the interests of all parties.Gauthier's solution is the principle of Minimax relative concession.Finally,there is the question of whether it is rational to abide by the agreement.The rationality pursuing utility maximization will produce two kinds of maximization tendency,and the core of justifying keeping the contract is that the expected utility of constrained maximizer is higher than that of straightforward maximizer.The fourth part is the theoretical evaluation,which is divided into the value and limitation of the theory: The value of the theory of " Morals by Agreement " mainly lies in consolidating the connection between morality and interests,increasing the reasons for moral choice and enlightening our behaviors in life.The limitation mainly lies in the weakness of the argument of covenant keeping and the limitation of the applicable scope of Gauthier's moral contract.