Resumen

MARTINS ZANITELLI, Leandro. Contract law, Rawlsian justice, and Social Ethos. Anal. filos. [online]. 2017, vol.37, n.2, pp.121-141. ISSN 1851-9636.

The paper addresses the relationship between contract law and Rawls’s theory of justice (particularly, the difference principle). It assumes that institutions can influence citizens’ attitudes (or social ethos). Thus, all rest being the same, the difference principle requires that, to the greatest possible extent, institutions favor an egalitarian ethos. This leads to the conclusion that the role of contract law in an ideal Rawlsian society may be other than promoting an efficient regulation of economic exchange. Contract law can switch citizens’ egoistic attitudes in two discursive ways: by doing away with the assumption that agents are interested only in maximizing their own utility (the homo economicus assumption) and praising the value of moderately altruist behavior.

Palabras clave : Contract Law; Rawls; Difference Principle; Social Ethos.

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