Developed by T. M. Scanlon (Contractualism and Utilitarianism, 1982; What We Owe to Each Other, 1998), in the social-contract line that includes John Rawls.
Tests a rule or policy by asking whether anyone it affects could reasonably reject it, and treats a principle that survives every such objection as justified to all.
When to reach for it
When a decision will land on several groups and each must be shown why the rule is fair to them, beyond producing the best total.
How it runs
- State the proposed rule as a principle.
- List everyone it affects, now and later.
- Write each party's strongest objection.
- Judge whether each objection rests on a legitimate interest.
- Revise or drop the rule if any objection stands.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Contractualism and Utilitarianism, Utilitarianism and Beyond (Amartya Sen and Bernard Williams, eds.), Cambridge University Press, 1982
- What We Owe to Each Other, 1998
- A Theory of Justice, 1971