Gottier's Research On Self-benefiting Contracts

As one of the most important modern western moral philosophers,Gauthier's contractarianism has a great influence in the western academic circle.Gauthier proposed that people voluntarily give up part of their rights and interests based on their own needs,and form morality through consensus agreement.Applying the theory of rational choice to the field of moral philosophy,Gauthier believed that moral principles should be consistent with prudent reason and can produce optimal results among agents,thus binding on their choice of behavior.Based on the classification and arrangement of his works,papers and other relevant documents,this paper summarizes and analyzes the changes of his thoughts at different stages of development,and abstracts out a more specific and systematic thoughts of Gauthier's contract theory.In terms of the rationality of cooperation,Gauthier proposed that rational agents would realize that in a natural state,it is better for agents to cooperate with those around them than not cooperate,because by establishing cooperative relationships,they can reduce defense costs and increase cooperative surpluses.In order to carry out cooperation,everyone must transfer part of their rights and form a contract.The contract reached will impose certain constraints on the behavior of the agents participating in cooperation,making them unable to pursue their own benefit maximization at will.Through cooperation,agents can obtain the cooperative surplus,which is the benefit that people cannot obtain in the non-cooperative state.Therefore,he put forward the hypothesis that the rational actor is a constrained maximizer.In order to ensure the fairness and justice between participating partners,Gauthier put forward the proviso that does not harm others in order to benefit himself.On the issue of the distribution of cooperative surplus,on the one hand,from the perspective of self-interest,Gauthier advocated that the agents should make less concessions and gain more,and then he proposed the principle of maximin proportionate gain.On the other hand,Gauthier realized the importance of justice in cooperation,and proposed that reciprocity should be proportional to contribution in terms of distribution,so as to create as fair an environment as possible for cooperation.Gauthier linked ethics with economics,he developed a negotiation method of game theory and combined it with rational choice theory to solve the problem of practical rationality,which was scientific and innovative in analytical methods.However,due to the common defects of the contract theory,Gauthier's contract theory is not universally applicable and does not have compulsory binding force,so it is difficult to meet the presupposition established by Gauthier's contractarianism in reality.Based on the scientific analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of Gauthier's contract theory,this paper puts forward some contents applicable to reality and emphasizes the reasonable attention to the realistic needs of all aspects,so as to promote the development of the whole social practice.