The separateness of persons, distributive norms, and moral theory

It has become commonplace in moral philosophy to claim that teleological moral theories, such as utilitarianism, fail to account for various important moral phenomena recognized by commonsense morality, such as special moral obligations (e.g., obligations to intimates and promissory obligations), moral and political rights, and distributive justice. These moral failings are often traced to a common source: Teleological theories allegedly fail to recognize or respond appropriately to the separateness of persons. Proper recognition of the separateness of persons, it is claimed, supports a quite different, contractualist style of moral theory.