Abstract: Parfit first takes on Seabright's contractualist assumption (‘Nothing is society's business unless it could be the subject of an appropriate hypothetical social contract’) and questions Seabright's view about what could be covered by such a hypothetical agreement. Parfit then attacks Seabright's method of assessing the value of various goods and services. Finally, Parfit exposes the ambiguity in Seabright's appeal to pluralism.

Keywords: assessment, contractarianism, measurement, pluralism, social contract,