Commitment
Commitment
This chapter focuses on commitment, defined as an enduring normative determination made in the past to govern the future. More specifically, it examines why one adheres to past normative determinations when present preferences have changed or when present all-things-considered judgment is now to the contrary. It explains the reason-giving and obligation-creating force of commitments and considers one strand of contemporary moral philosophy that credits commitments with a decisive normative force different from that of will-based obligations. It looks at democratic self-government and written constitutionalism in the context of commitment and discusses distinct “modes of deliberative agency.” In addition, the chapter illustrates the importance of self-givenness in commitmentarian freedom by analyzing the work of Michael Sandel, whose views about unwilled commitments are part of his critique of liberalism.
Keywords: commitment, moral philosophy, obligations, self-government, constitutionalism, deliberative agency, self-givenness, commitmentarian freedom, Michael Sandel, liberalism
Yale Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.