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Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task
Published on: July 22, 2025
Justice, egocentrism, and resource-rational contractualism
Elizabeth Mullen1, Christopher W Bauman2
1San José State University, Lucas College of Business One Washington Square San Jose, CA95192, USA elizabeth.mullen@sjsu.edu.
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
|June 24, 2026
Summary
Contractualist models and justice theories share common ground, suggesting contractualism can be improved by incorporating justice insights. Negotiation research also reveals cognitive limits impacting contractualist assumptions.
Area of Science:
- Moral Philosophy
- Political Philosophy
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- The contractualist model offers a framework for moral and political justification.
- Existing theories of justice provide alternative perspectives on fairness and distribution.
- Research on negotiation highlights cognitive biases affecting decision-making.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the overlap between contractualist models and theories of justice.
- To assess the implications of negotiation research for contractualist assumptions.
- To propose enhancements for the contractualist model.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of philosophical literature.
- Review of empirical findings in negotiation research.
- Theoretical integration of different research streams.
Main Results:
- Significant overlap identified between contractualism and justice theories.
- Contractualism can be strengthened by integrating justice literature.
- Egocentrism and simulation limits in negotiations challenge certain contractualist elements.
Conclusions:
- Contractualist models and theories of justice are highly compatible.
- Integrating insights from justice literature can refine contractualist frameworks.
- Empirical findings on negotiation limitations necessitate adjustments to contractualist models.
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