Abstract
A contractarian moral theory states that an action (practice, social
structure, etc.) is morally permissible if and only if it (or rules to which if conforms) would be agreed to by the members of society under
certain circumstances. What people will agree to depends on what
their desires are like. Most contractarian theories - for example those
of Rawls (1971) and Gauthier (1986) - specify that parties to the
agreement are mutually unconcerned (take no interest in each other's
interests). Contractarian theorists, do not, of course, believe that this is true of real people, but they insist (with Kant) that the basic moral
constraints on conduct (if there are any) apply independently of
whether individuals care about each other.
I shall here argue against the appropriateness of the assumption of
mutual unconcern for contractarian theories, such as Gauthier's, that
are supposed to ground morality solely in rationality.