Social commitments and rational obligations

This paper defends the idea that social obligations emerge from the norms governing rationality. Through an analysis of the normative requirements of rationality, it will be argued that agents posses rational authority to reevaluate her reasons, to modify her practical judgements, and to change her intentions. Rational autonomy, the capacity to both acquire and revoke an individual commitment, depends on rational authority. In a social commitment, the debtor gives up her rational autonomy and authority in favor of the creditor, creating hereby an obligation for the debtor, a right for the creditor, and a normative reason relative to the debtor.