Abstract

STEINFATH, Holmer. WE AND I. Univ. philos. [online]. 2013, vol.30, n.60, pp.51-81. ISSN 0120-5323.

Morality is a social institution of general and reciprocal demands binding all members of a moral community. As a social institution morality is the work of a "We", not of an "I". But the moral "We" is open to several competing interpretations. Hobbesian contractualists understand the moral "We" as a unit of cooperation between individuals who strategically pursue their personal interests. Utilitarians take the moral "We" as a community with its own common good. The Kantian tradition has tried to work out an intersubjectivist notion of the moral "We" which promises to avoid the shortcomings of both contractualist and utilitarian approaches. The article highlights the appeal of the intersubjectivist outlook and explores the prospects for a justification of morality that takes the intersubjectivist nature of morality seriously.

Keywords : We-outlook; contractualism; utilitarianism; intersubjectivist; interest.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )