Social contracts and corporations: A reply to Hodapp

In this reply to Professor Hodapp's criticism of my social contract theory, I focus on the misinterpretations I believe Professor Hodapp makes of the social contract tradition as well as my version of the contract. By misinterpreting the underlying purpose of social contract theory, he neglects...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business ethics
Main Author: Donaldson, Thomas (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 1990
In: Journal of business ethics
Further subjects:B Social Contract
B Contract Theory
B Critical Issue
B Close Attention
B Economic Growth
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Description
Summary:In this reply to Professor Hodapp's criticism of my social contract theory, I focus on the misinterpretations I believe Professor Hodapp makes of the social contract tradition as well as my version of the contract. By misinterpreting the underlying purpose of social contract theory, he neglects the contract's heuristic or “functional” dimension, something that leads him to downplay the importance of the contract as a conceptual catalyst. And by adopting an overly narrow notion of rationality, he imagines circularity where none exists. Later, Professor Hodapp questions the effect of the contract upon individual liberties, and in doing so broaches a critical issue. But I attempt to show that his concerns are eliminated by close attention to the theory itself.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/BF00382663