Respecting Human Dignity
Contract Versus Capabilities
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23150830 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cynthia A Stark (0000-0003-2490-2204, University of Utah, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 3-4 |
| Pages | 366-381 |
| Publication date | 2009-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Metaphilosophy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0026-1068 • E-ISSN: 1467-9973 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9973.2009.01605.x |
| OpenAlex | W2100432702 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 29 |
There appears to be a tension between two commitments in liberalism. The first is that citizens, as rational agents possessing dignity, are owed a justification for principles of justice. The second is that members of society who do not meet the requirements of rational agency are owed justice. These notions conflict because the first commitment is often expressed through the device of the social contract, which seems to confine the scope of justice to rational agents. So, contractarianism seems to ignore the justice claims of the severely cognitively impaired. To solve this problem, Martha Nussbaum proposes the capabilities approach. The justifiability condition, on this approach, is met by the idea of overlapping consensus. This essay argues that overlapping consensus cannot meet liberalism's justifiability condition, nor is it more inclusive of the cognitively impaired. Therefore, we have reason to retain the contract device and look for another way to ensure that liberalism respects the justice claims of all.
Agency (philosophy) · Contractualism · Dignity · Economic Justice · Law and economics · Liberalism · Political science · Politics · Scope (computer science) · Social contract · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Free Will and Agency · Law · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Political Philosophy and Ethics
Wide Reflective Equilibrium and Theory Acceptance in Ethics
At the Margins of Moral Personhood
The Reasonable in Justice as Fairness
Justice for the Disabled
Duties of Justice to Citizens With Cognitive Disabilities
A Theory of Justice
Political Liberalism and Respect
The Justification of Political Liberalism
Love’s Labor
A Rawlsian Perspective on Justice for the Disabled
Respect, Pluralism, and Justice
The Moral Personhood of Individuals Labeled “Mentally Retarded”
Varieties of Feminist Liberalism
Frontiers of Justice
Theories of Justice
Political Liberalism and Public Reason
Capabilities as Fundamental Entitlements
How to Include the Severely Disabled in a Contractarian Theory of Justice
Political Liberalism and Respect
On Hearing Women's Voices
What is reasonableness
Contractarianism, Other‐regarding Attitudes, and the Moral Standing of Nonhuman Animals
Hypothetical Consent and Justification
Contractarianism and cooperation
Poverty, Well‐Being, and Gender
Feminism and Liberalism Revisited
Women and Human Development
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,46 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2024 (12) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |