Constructivism (ethics)

also contractualism, Kantian constructivism

The view that morality's content is constructed from what rational agents would agree to under fair, idealized conditions, rather than read off a mind-independent moral fact or a divine command.

Sources

  • Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Constructivism in Metaethics"
  • John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (1971)
  • T.M. Scanlon, What We Owe to Each Other (1998)

Related entries

Atlas entries are written from sources Debby has read, not from memory. They explain a thing; they do not settle an argument. The arguments are in the Library.