INVESTIGADORES
VENEZIA Luciano Javier
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
The Hobbesian Analysis of Promises and Contracts Made under Coercion or Duress: a Critique
Autor/es:
VENEZIA, LUCIANO
Lugar:
Buenos Aires
Reunión:
Congreso; Coloquio de Filosofía SADAF 2011; 2011
Institución organizadora:
Sociedad Argentina de Análisis Filosófico
Resumen:
Hobbes´s ideas on contracts and promises are extremely
counter-intuitive. Surely actions made under coercion or duress are not
fully voluntary in the required normative sense, which would explain why
they are not morally binding. However, important scholars--notably
Claire Finkelstein--have recently written important essays on this topic
trying to find a way of understanding whay sort of theory would be
required in order to make sense, if not to defend, Hobbes´s theory, at
least in some contexts. Thus, according to what I call in this paper the
"Hobbesian" analysis of promises and contracts made under coercion or
duress, it is not just a psychological fact that agents feel bound by
agreements reached under coercion or duress; according to the Hobbesian
theory they have a genuine moral obligation to act as they have promised
or consented to. In this paper, I analyze both Hobbes´s arguments to
ground such a claim via a particular understanding of agency and
voluntariness. I also take into consideration some points introduced by
Finkelstein to make Hobbes´s view less counterintuitive. My conclusion
is that the Hobbesian attempt to rationally ground the claim that
contracts and promises made under coercion or duress are in many cases
voluntary in the required sense and therefore that they may be binding
does not really succeed.