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Thoughts On The Divergence Of Contract And Promise, Ian C. Bartrum
Thoughts On The Divergence Of Contract And Promise, Ian C. Bartrum
Ian C Bartrum
This essay offers some brief thoughts on Seana Shiffrin's recent work regarding the divergence of contractual and promissory norms. I conclude that Shiffrin does not do enough to separate and account for the different consequentalist and deontological justifications underlying each institution, and does not do enough to explain how promises give rise to the "moral" duties she posits. I suggest, instead, that the divergence between contract and promise is justified by the different roles each institution plays in our lives, and that, in fact, keeping strictly promissory duties outside the scope of state coercion actually facilitates a strong culture of …
Nonpublic Reasons And Political Paradigm Change, Ian C. Bartrum
Nonpublic Reasons And Political Paradigm Change, Ian C. Bartrum
Ian C Bartrum
This article was a contribution to the 2010 Religious Legal Theory symposium held at St. John's Law School.
John Rawls famously argued that citizens in a just democracy have a moral duty to ensure that “the principles and policies they advocate and vote for can be supported by the political values of public reason.” This so-called “duty of civility” obligates us to cast our votes on “constitutional questions and matters of basic justice” for reasons that we can explain in terms of the public good and the “ideals and principles expressed by society’s conception of political justice.” Rawls contrasts these …