Thinker · TH-0117
David Gauthier
David Gauthier was a Canadian philosopher who taught at the University of Toronto and the University of Pittsburgh. In Morals by Agreement he attempted…
On the Coordinates: 3.2.4 Contract-Based Approaches
David Gauthier was a Canadian philosopher who taught at the University of Toronto and the University of Pittsburgh. In Morals by Agreement he attempted to derive moral constraints from rational choice itself: rational individuals, bargaining for mutual advantage, would agree to principles of cooperation. His contractarianism, influenced by Hobbes and game theory, is a leading alternative to Kantian and utilitarian approaches.
Key ideas
- Morality can be justified as what rational self-interested agents would agree to.
- Rational agents should become 'constrained maximisers' who cooperate with other cooperators.
- Fair bargaining follows a principle of minimax relative concession.
- Hobbes's social contract can be reconstructed with the tools of game theory.
Major works
- The Logic of Leviathan (1969)
- Morals by Agreement (1986)
- Moral Dealing (1990)
In the conversation
In the Coordinates
The questions of philosophy where David Gauthier takes a place, from The Coordinates of Thought.
- 3.2.4 Contract-Based Approaches Could you justify this to everyone it affects?