Direito contratual, justiça distributiva e virtudes cívicas

Abstract

The paper answers to Seana Shiffrin’s criticisms against contract law. Shiffrin states that lenience towards breach renders contract law divergent from moral prescriptions respecting promises, thus jeopardizing citizens’ interest in moral development and the development of an egalitarian culture. It is argued that Shiffrin is mistaken by assuming that more severe laws necessarily give rise to virtuous citizens. Shiffrin’s criticisms are valuable, nonetheless, in stressing law’s influence over citizens’ preferences, a point commonly neglected by contract law theories associated with distributive justice.