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Resource-rational contractualism can also explain personal moral judgments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2026

Nisheeth Srivastava Open the ORCID record for Nisheeth Srivastava [Opens in a new window] ,
Arjun Mitra Open the ORCID record for Arjun Mitra [Opens in a new window] ,
Ramya Mudumba ,
Hariharan Purohit  and
Divya Pathak
Nisheeth Srivastava*
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kalyanpur, Kanpur, UP, India nsrivast@iitk.ac.in arjmit@iitk.ac.in mudumba20@iitk.ac.in hariharan22@iitk.ac.in divyap@iitk.ac.in
Arjun Mitra
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kalyanpur, Kanpur, UP, India nsrivast@iitk.ac.in arjmit@iitk.ac.in mudumba20@iitk.ac.in hariharan22@iitk.ac.in divyap@iitk.ac.in
Ramya Mudumba
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kalyanpur, Kanpur, UP, India nsrivast@iitk.ac.in arjmit@iitk.ac.in mudumba20@iitk.ac.in hariharan22@iitk.ac.in divyap@iitk.ac.in
Hariharan Purohit
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kalyanpur, Kanpur, UP, India nsrivast@iitk.ac.in arjmit@iitk.ac.in mudumba20@iitk.ac.in hariharan22@iitk.ac.in divyap@iitk.ac.in
Divya Pathak
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kalyanpur, Kanpur, UP, India nsrivast@iitk.ac.in arjmit@iitk.ac.in mudumba20@iitk.ac.in hariharan22@iitk.ac.in divyap@iitk.ac.in
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

While Levine et al. restrict themselves to explaining interpersonal moral judgments using a resource rational contractualist lens, we believe that their ideas could be extended to produce a theoretical account of personal virtues by taking into consideration the fact that people are able to think about their future selves. We suggest how such intra-individual contractualist explanations could be formulated.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 49 , 2026 , e154
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press

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