In this talk, the author develops a phenomenological critique of T. M. Scanlon’s contractualism, arguing that it cannot adequately account for the lived experience of subjugation. Drawing on Simone Weil’s critique of rights-based theories, the talk foregrounds the perspective of the victim and shows that contractualism’s quasi-juridical framework obscures underlying power asymmetry between them and the perpetrators. By treating the two as equally positioned claimants in the search for principles governing common life, the theory fails to render certain forms of moral injury intelligible.

It is further argued that contractualism’s method of assessing wrongness through the comparison of complaints—reasons for and against principles—inadvertently offends victims of subjugation, whose sense of being wronged resists comparative framing. Contractualism neglects the exclusionary force of such experiences of wronging.

The author concludes by questioning the monistic vision of interpersonal morality grounded in justifiability, and calls for a pluralistic view that would accommodate divergent moral experience.

Dr. Anton Markoč is a Research Associate at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) of the University of Montenegro. He graduated and specialized in political sciences at the University of Montenegro, and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from Central European University (CEU), under the mentorship of János Kis. He was a visiting researcher in philosophy at Harvard University, mentored by T. M. Scanlon, and an independent researcher at the University of Rijeka. Previously, he taught at CEU, the University of Donja Gorica, and the American University of Central Asia (AUCA).

His research interests include contemporary moral and political philosophy and the history of ideas. He has published single-authored papers in philosophical journals such as Philosophical Studies, Journal of Value Inquiry, Res Publica, Journal of Social Philosophy, and Theoria. He has translated and edited several philosophical works from English, including T. M. Scanlon and Derek Parfit, Moral Contractualism (Akademska knjiga–IFDT, Novi Sad–Belgrade, 2018), Saul Newman, Political Theology: A Critical Introduction (UCG–IAS, Podgorica, 2024), and Peter Harrison, The Territories of Science and Religion (UCG–IAS, Podgorica, 2025).

He has delivered guest lectures in Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Russia, Spain, and the USA. He has a decade of experience teaching introductory and advanced courses in philosophy and related humanities disciplines across European and American universities within various academic traditions and teaching models. He is a two-time recipient of the CEU Award for Academic Excellence and a three-time recipient of the “Matthew Nimetz” Award conferred by AUCA for exceptional scholarly achievements. He is fluent in English, Russian, and Italian.