Suchergebnisse

Possibilities are not neutral. Our engagement with the possible – the possibilities we value and the possibilities we ignore – will, to a degree, always be constrained by the moral universe we inhabit. Philosophy has always been concerned with normative questions – how should we live, what should we value? With growing inequality, rapid and potentially destructive technological development, and multiple environmental crises, the limits of traditional ethical and political philosophies are becoming apparent, particularly in areas focused on novel technologies and the environment. There can be an extremely fruitful dialogue between Possibility Studies and environmental ethics in examining the possibility of realising novel ethical frameworks to help us navigate the myriad problems of the world.

This paper is placed in the context of a growing number of social and political critiques of blockchain technologies. We focus on the supposed potential of blockchain technologies to transform political institutions that are central to contemporary human societies, such as money, property rights regimes, and systems of democratic governance. Our aim is to examine the way blockchain technologies canbring about - and justify - new models of governance. To do so, we draw on the philosophical works of Hobbes, Rousseau, and Rawls, analyzing blockchain governance in terms of contrasting social contract theories. We begin by comparing the justifications of blockchain governance offered by members of the blockchain developers' community with the justifications of governance presented within social contract theories. We then examine the extent to which the model of governance offered by blockchain technologies reflects key governance themes and assumptions located within social contract theories, focusing on the notions of sovereignty, the initial situation, decentralization and distributive justice.