Rowan-Trees t1_j93s3wh wrote on February 19, 2023 at 12:48 AM

This is very interesting, and similar to a project I am working out myself. I hope to give this a closer read soon, and a more thorough response.

In the meantime, are you familiar with Emmanuel Levinas? I'd be interested in hearing your response to him. He presents an ontological model of ethics similar to yours, but where freedom is supplanted by responsibility.

To Levinas, ethics comes implicitly written into the event of encountering the Other. The fact of my existence is itself an imposition on the Other: in so far as my existence effects the Other, I am responsible. The other's existence stirs me to a moral accountability. This responsibility, in turn, becomes a meaning for my own existence. "ethics, rooted in responsibility, is the node of our subjectivity, tying us to reality." In other words, my being a subject in the world is a result of encountering the Other, who not only makes me responsible, but also makes me conscious of my own Self.

contractualist OP t1_j93xfbl wrote on February 19, 2023 at 1:31 AM

Thank you! It’s hard to make sense of Levinas’s infinite responsibility and how that translates into duties to others, especially when our relationships with others goes beyond public reasons. I’m satisfied with the analytic approach, but I’d be interested to hear your thoughts!