Contractualism vs. contractarianism

Abstract

The author insists that, within contemporary theory, common division of social contract tradition on “Hobbesian” and “Kantian” line of thought is entirely justified. Analyzing the theories of David Gauthier and Thomas Scanlon, he also indicates the important difference between “moral” and “political” dimension of the idea of social contract. Finally, he rejects recent attempts of identifying contractualism with constructivism.

Keywords

• social contract tradition
• contractualism
• contractarianism
• constructivism
• actual and hypothetical agreement
• David Gauthier
• Thomas Scanlon