Morality and Expectations

Abstract

This paper (an early-stage draft) is part of a series that aims to displace the dominant economic conceptions of negligence law.

The goal of this paper is to provide one possible moral foundation for this effort, based on the contractualism of T.M. Scanlon. The central conclusion is that violating the expectations of others may violate rights in more situations than commentators traditionally suppose (at least where those expectations are reasonable, though whether a non-circular definition exists for that kind of reasonableness is insufficiently explored in this draft of the paper).

Keywords: tort, negligence, morality, expectations, reasonableness, Scanlon, contractualism

JEL Classification: K13