ABSTRACT
This chapter considers whether the requirements of an interactive morality, the duty to treat others with the concern and respect that befits them as beings of incomparable worth, can supply the normative force behind the concept of fairness. The morality of happiness is most characteristically on display in utilitarian moral theory. Utilitarianism supposes that morality is concerned chiefly with the promotion of the greatest well, and the greatest good is identified with happiness or pleasure and the avoidance of pain or suffering. Probably the strongest argument against situating the concept of fairness within either a morality of happiness or an interactive morality can be made by placing it more comfortably within an alternative moral theory. The normative force necessary, and all the normative force necessary, to establish that one should be faithful to a purposive practice are supplied by the notion of fairness.
