This book brings together translations of a classic essay, “Contractualism and Utilitarianism,” by Thomas Scanlon, along with a critical reflection on contractualism in “Justifiability to Each Person,” by Derek Parfit. Contractualism is a metaethical, as well as a normative ethical theory: on the one hand, it attempts to explain the normativity of ethics, while on the other, it seeks to offer a criterion for morally correct acting. Standing in opposition to ethical contractualism is the theory of philosophical utilitarianism that assumes acting that calculates ways of increasing general welfare. In contrast to the latter, Scanlon indicates that there are values we do not hold dear by improving them, but by preserving and respecting them.