David Gauthier’s Libertarianism

David Gauthier’s book Morals by Agreement represents a major work of contemporary moral and political philosophy. The article is intended as an introductory text to his theory, which is considered a contractarian alternative to Robert Nozick’s libertarian philosophy (as put forward in his well-known book Anarchy, State and Utopia). While the Czech reader is already familiar with Nozick’s libertarianism, Gauthier‘s contractarian concept of this radical branch of liberalism hasn’t been in the Czech republic publicly debated yet. Gauthier grounds his philosophy on the assumptions of the rational choice theory and operates with such concepts as “utility maximization”, “equilibrium” and “optimality”. The uniqueness of his approach lies in the attempt to harmonically link individual rational choice (where the rationality of the choice is related to utility maximization) and common agreement on the principles of collective action (which requires concessions from pure individual utility maximization). A key role is then played by the “prisoner's dilemma”, which Gauthier employs to show that not the individual maximization, but a rationally grounded concession resulting in cooperation is actually rational even from the view of mutually unconcerned individuals. Constraints on individual behaviour that emerge from the rational bargaining (Gauthier calls them Principles of minimax relative concession and maximin relative benefit) are then identified with “morality in the traditional sense” - the Hobbesian account of morality as rational constraints on individual behaviour. A brief discussion of Gauthier’s position in the realm of contemporary political phisophy follows, including a somewhat more detailed comparison of Nozick’s and Gauthier’s libertarianism. The article is concluded with the outline of the most relevant critical reactions, not only addressing the single components of Gauthier’s theory (such as adherence to the social contract, initial bargaining position, both principles of constrained behaviour etc.) but also questioning contractarian morality and libertarian approaches to society in general.