Philosophy 1020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Contract Theory
2 Apr 2016
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In some sense fairness demands some equality of treatment. Contract theory is supposed to get us to principles of how to act and how to behave that are fair. When people come together to make a contract it is possible that one of the people is much more powerful than others. When you are trying to get an agreement from someone you can make use of your advantages in an unfair way. You are not going to get an idea of fair principles because stronger people will be able to exploit the weaker people in the bargaining. You would only be able to have people come to fair agreements under the veil of ignorance. You wouldn"t know who you were or what your advantages were. The people trying to igure out fair principles of conduct would be stripped of their knowledge of identity. They would know if they were strong or weak, rich or poor, men or women.
