The problem of collective action has intuitive solutions that do not thoroughly capture the individual moral motivation of cooperating towards long-term collective goals. David Gauthier’s theory of constrained maximization presents a plausible moral account that can be incorporated into this debate. To bridge this gap, I propose ex ante constrained maximization as a rational strategy for acting first towards the production of public goods, where the necessary conditions are satisfied by the abse…
Read moreThe problem of collective action has intuitive solutions that do not thoroughly capture the individual moral motivation of cooperating towards long-term collective goals. David Gauthier’s theory of constrained maximization presents a plausible moral account that can be incorporated into this debate. To bridge this gap, I propose ex ante constrained maximization as a rational strategy for acting first towards the production of public goods, where the necessary conditions are satisfied by the absence of a centralized resource allocation scheme. I further present ex post constrained maximization as a rational strategy and a normative contractarian obligation to sustain long-term and larger-scale cooperative outcomes.
