Donaldson’s Social Contract for Business

Abstract

The idea of a social contract has enjoyed a resurgence among social philo sophers in dealing with broad topics such as distributive justice and narrower ones such as the responsibilities of particular institutions, professions, and organizations. A recent example in business ethics is Donaldson's discussion of a social contract for business. I shall point out difficulties with Donaldson's argument and suggest in general terms the limited utility of contract thinking for settling questions in business ethics. First I shall summarize some claims that Donaldson states clearly and then turn to some inclarities that affect the cogency of his position.